An exiled Bangladeshi author accused of insulting Islam will be allowed to stay in India, it emerged yesterday, but only if she remains in a government flat at a secret location in Delhi, unable to receive visitors or step outside.

India's foreign ministry justified the conditions saying that as a "guest" Taslima Nasrin, 45, should not "undertake actions that could hurt the sentiments of the many communities that make up our multi-religious and multi-ethnic nation".

Nasrin fled her adopted home of Kolkata in November after Muslims protested against "anti-Islamic" passages in her works. The rioting ended only when the army was deployed in the city - and she was forced to flee.

Nasrin told the Guardian she had been told her residency permit would be extended, just days before it expired, but for an unspecified time. Her only company is a television and her laptop.

"I cannot live a normal life like this. [Officials] said because if I went outside 10 people would die in riots. I don't believe them," said Nasrin. "I want to stay in India but I don't know how long they will allow me to remain."

She said she was a "prisoner without prisoner rights"."I get food and medicines brought to me. It is prison food. I want prisoners' rights. Let me have visiting hours," she said.

Lawyers yesterday questioned whether such conditions were legal. Indira Jaisingh, a supreme court lawyer, said the government had probably used a 1946 act to restrict the writer's movements.

"I think it is almost certainly illegal and could be challenged in the courts," she said. "The act is usually used for criminals wanted by the police. Here it has been used pre-emptively but not proportionately. The constitution guarantees freedom of life and liberty to anyone on Indian soil."

An international group of writers have urged the government to give Nasrin permanent residency. "There seems to be a lack of political will to do anything about her situation," said British novelist Hari Kunzru. "The Indian government is trying to kick this problem into the long grass rather than deal with its responsibility to uphold freedom of expression."

Nasrin, who has lived in India since 2000, has been targeted by Muslim groups in the past six months over her autobiography Dwikhandita in which she commented on the relationship the prophet Muhammad had with his wives and also said the Qur'an advised against friendships with non-Muslims. The book was recalled and the passages deleted at the end of last year.

"[Dwikhandita] was basically defaming the prophet," said Muhammad Anwer, spokesman for the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind which runs Islamic religious schools in India. "It is best she is forgotten about."