First Grain of Sand — Page 117
THE TORTURE BEGINS ΙΟΙ room with eight to ten other sick people, and laid me down on an iron bed that had a mattress on top. This is when I understood the soldier's gesture because as soon as I arrived, they tried to force some medicine into my mouth, which I suspected might be poison. After all, when I was being taken to the hospital, the doctor was told to give me poison. Thus, looking at their behaviour—and reflecting on the fact that my injuries were external not internal, yet instead of any ointment on my wounds, they were attempting for me to ingest something-I refused the medicine. In response, three hospital staff members physically held me down by my arms and legs and forcibly began to put this medicine into my mouth with a spoon. Alarmed at their actions, I clenched my teeth tightly, turned my face towards the mattress and bit down on the bedsheet. I did this so that if any of the medicine entered my mouth, it would get caught in the sheet rather than be swallowed. Finally, after a long struggle, they let me go for the time being. I noticed that some crushed traces of the medicine were left behind not only on the bedsheet but also a little in my mouth, which had some effect on me. I began to experience extreme dizziness and felt as if I was about to lose consciousness. The next day, they once again tried to force this medicine into my mouth, but again they were unsuccessful. After this, the staff took a hospital gown that had a long rope in it and used it to tie my arms very tightly behind my back and tie my legs together and strike me. This went on for three days before the doctors ultimately developed some sympathy for me, and at the behest of some officers who were favourable towards me, the hospital staff stopped torturing me and finally began treating my wounds. After every week, the doctor would conduct an examination of my overall health and take a statement from me in the presence of