MALAYSIAN RETURNS AFTER UGLY EPISODE IN VARANASI

BY: P.VIJIAN

NEW DELHI, Sept 12 (Bernama) -- A Malaysian who journeyed to India to walk
the path of spiritual life but instead was locked up in an Indian jail for
almost two years, for violating immigration laws will return to his homeland
Friday.

Lim Soon Seng, who was released on Aug 27, managed to obtain his exit
certificate from the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) in Delhi to
leave India.

The former valuation surveyor, from Johor, was held under Section 14 of the
Foreigners Act after he failed to renew his visa upon expiry and was detained by
the police in Varanasi -- a popular holy site for Hindus and where foreigners
often converge.

Lim, in his 50s, first arrived in Varanasi in 2001 and stayed on to pursue
his spiritual path and to learn the Indian system of Vedic treatment.

But from December 2007 until last August, the Malaysian languished in one of
India's hardcore prisons as he failed to get any outside help to free himself.


However, help reached Lim after a German diplomat, who visited the prison,
met him and later informed the Malaysian High Commission in Delhi, which
eventually helped to expedite Lim's release.

"I was shattered in prison. All I wanted to do was to heal and help people
but I went through some bad karma in India because of the visa, there were so
many legal complications.

"It placed so much stress on my family and me. Now I am free and happy to go
home and see my sister," Lim told Bernama before his departure.

Lim would aboard the Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Friday night and head for Kuala
Lumpur.

-- BERNAMA