In the spring of February 2010, a chilling murder shook the sleepy touristy town of Shimla in Himachal Pradesh. Two lovebirds, Gaurav Verma and Pragati Tibberwal, both students of the premiere Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT), had checked into a hotel to celebrate the boy's birthday.

They had been dating since their coaching days in Kota, Rajasthan. A night and an altercation later, the girl was found dead with her head smashed with a beer bottle and throat and wrists slit.

The boy, who had obviously ruined his life and career, was nabbed by the police from Yamunanagar, Haryana, to where he had fled, and sentenced to life imprisonment in a British-era jail in Shimla.

National and even foreign news channels descended on the hill town to cover the sensational story of the student couple, dramatic videos of which are still available on YouTube.

Cut to year 2017. Verma is now a kind and smiling teacher at the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Memorial Public School in Kufri Dhar, 14 km from Shimla. At the school the IIT lad, who could never complete his degree, now coaches students from class XI and XII in two of the most difficult and dreaded subjects: Maths and Physics.

The teenage girls and boys love him and he adores them too. He arrives at the school at 7 am and returns back to his cell at the Kanda Model Central Jail before sunset.

NEW LEASE ON LIFE

Verma got his second chance in life, thanks to director general (DG) Somesh Goyal who believed in prisoner's rehabilitation.

"I never thought I would return to live a normal life. My face was splashed all over the media. I had slipped into depression. I kept crying the whole day and I became a recluse. There was no one I could trust or share my feelings with," said Verma.

Then Goyal joined as DG in 2015. "In him, I found a guardian. Knowing my qualification, he encouraged me to do various things, like helping in the computerisation of jail records, developing kaarabazaar.in to market jail products, and teaching other inmates etc," said Verma.

Gaurav Verma, an ex-IITian, getting ready at the Kanda jail. (Photo: K Asif) Gaurav Verma, an ex-IITian, getting ready at the Kanda jail. (Photo: K Asif)

In February 2017, Gaurav was told that he was selected under the 'Open Jail Inmates,' a scheme where life convicts are rewarded for their good conduct with job opportunities even outside prison premises on condition that they report back by 5 pm.

The teachers of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Memorial School first came to know about Verma when their students came to Kanda Jail to perform cultural events on the occasion of Republic and Independence Day. They enquired if he could teach. And DG Somesh Goyal readily agreed.

Earlier this year, the school's principal ran a signature campaign among senior students asking if they were okay being taught by a murder convict. "We thought it would be great to have an IITian teach our kids science," said Principal Ranjana Jaret.

"And all of them signed their approval immediately... Nowadays, they all get along so well, it is difficult to think that Gaurav had a violent past. The kids know about it and they are okay with it. In fact, teachers have told me that they approach Gaurav even with their personal issues. They are quite pally with him," added Jaret. It may be noted that over 2,000 convicts in Himachal Pradesh have benefited from its 'Open Jail Inmates' policy.

ALL ABOUT BUILDING TRUST

According to DG Goyal, who is credited with pushing the policy it is all about building trust. "The scheme, which we also call as Har Haath Ko Kaam (Work for each hand), is open only for life convicts. We observe their behaviour for years, and only when found suitable, we let them out in day time without supervision," said Goyal.

"We have employed them in cafes, installed modern ovens and opened bakeries, welding shops, carpentry units, beauty parlours, handloom section, tailoring shops and even gotten Asian paints to train our artistically-inclined inmates in painting," informed Goyal.

Last year 2,350 convicts got employment under the scheme and the jail authorities disbursed Rs 80 lakh in wages to them from the revenue they received after selling the manufactured products in open market. The jail intends to open a shop at the Himachal Secretariat soon.

Verma is quite friendly with students. They even share their personal issues with him. (Photo: K Asif) Verma is quite friendly with students. They even share their personal issues with him. (Photo: K Asif)

As for Verma, in June he started teaching at Vidyamandir - a private institute in Shimla that coaches youngsters in competitive exams. He also has plans to develop a mobile application which simplifies the complex concepts of Maths and Physics. Ask him what he plans to name this app and he says, "Pragati," the name of his slain girlfriend.

"It was by accident that I ended up becoming a teacher, but now I am treating this as my pashchatap (atonement) and I want to prepare at least a dozen students for IIT-JEE, CAT, AIPMT," he said. "Whatever happened happened in a fit of rage and I was drunk. And I could not complete my studies. At least other kids can be successful,' said Verma, his eyes glazing.

With the Rs 12,000-Rs 15,000 he is earning monthly, he has brought his parents to Shimla, and pays for their rented accommodation. "As and when he is freed from jail, we will persuade him to get married and try to bring him back into the mainstream," said HL Verma, his father. "Insaan se hi galti hoti hai (humans commit mistake)," he added.

(Text and photos by K Asif)

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