[top photo- V. Ganabatirau embracing wife B. Buvaneswary and daughters Janany (right) and Gowri. (Inset) R. Kengadharan]

TAIPING, MALAYSIA: She rapped repeatedly at the window of a Proton Waja but the man whose attention she sought had stuck his hand out of the opposite window and was waving to cheering supporters outside the detention centre in Kamunting yesterday.

It seemed a waste of more than five hours waiting under the sun's glare, but for 33-year-old teacher B. Buvaneswary, catching a glimpse of the back of her husband's head was enough.

"It's him! It's him," she said excitedly, her eyes shining with relief as she rushed to her own car to follow the Proton Waja back to her home in Shah Alam.

After 15 months and 23 days of detention, Hindu Action Rights Force (Hindraf) leader V. Ganabatirau, 36, was finally going home.

Ganabatirau will have to "start from zero" as their savings are depleted and Buvaneswary closed his legal office after struggling to keep it running for the first six months.

And there will be medical bills to consider, as Ganabatirau had neck pain from a bone infection, aching shoulders and difficulty lifting his arms.

It hurt to take food to his mouth and he resorted to dipping his clothes in soapy water instead of scrubbing them.

According to a doctor, his bones are "black" and, left untreated, he could be paralysed in both arms, said Buvaneswary.

Dr M. Kalaivani, the wife of another freed Hindraf leader, R. Kengadharan, said he was happy to be released but sad that he had to leave three friends and Hindraf leaders behind.

"We have something planned for the family. Let us get used to him being home first. For now, it's going to be family time."

In Kengadharan's absence, Dr Kalaivani and their 3-year-old son lived on her earnings as a doctor with the Petaling district health office.

She said her husband suffered from the occasional skin problem and swollen leg during his detention, but might have kept mum about living conditions so as not to worry her.

His focus over the next few months would be on the family and his practice, she said.

A crowd of about 150, mostly family members and Hindraf supporters, waited outside the detention centre from 7am as prison wardens declined to provide information on when the 13 detainees, including the two Hindraf leaders, would be released.

At 10.45am, the three foreign detainees were driven out of the centre, while eight others -- members of Darul Islamiah -- walked out and were escorted by police to an undisclosed location, believed to be the Federal police headquarters in Bukit Aman.

When the crowd swelled, policemen wearing red helmets and armed with batons were called in to keep a clear path outside the centre's gates at 11.10am.

At 12.50pm, there was a buzz. It was an appearance by Kamarul Ramizu Idris, the independent candidate for the Bukit Gantang parliamentary by-election.

Two days ago, Pas candidate Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin also came to the detention centre to check if the men had been released.

C. Kanasa, a 42-year-old contractor, shaved his beard outside the centre to express his support for the Hindraf leaders, saying that he stopped shaving the day the two were arrested.

If the two remaining Hindraf leaders, P. Uthayakumar, 46, and M. Manoharan, 47, and Hindraf coordinator K. Vasantha Kumar, 35, are freed, he and more than 1,000 others would go bald, he said.

Meanwhile, Bernama reports that Ganabatirau has been restrained from issuing any media statements for a year.

His younger brother, Papparaidu, said this was among the conditions imposed by the government upon Ganabatirau's release.

Read also:
» Our house a home again, says Kengadharan's wife
» Seven former ISA detainees arriving in Sabah today
» Freed ISA 13 leave Kamunting
» Sweet taste of freedom for 13 ISA detainees » Najib: Release of ISA detainees done in interest of people