What this poorly written article doesn't say clearly is that these are Burmese REFUGEES who have ran from the war-mongering military junta to India. India does not recognize refugees and have jailed them.
Rupees is simply the name of the currency. The different colors represent differences in value. So a green rupee is worth one, whereas a blue rupee is worth five, a red worth twenty, purple worth 50, and gold worth 200.
Since they're demanding a 50,000 rupee ransom, I'd imagine you could pay with 50k green rupees, 10k blue rupees, 2,500 red rupees, 1,000 purple rupees, or 250 gold rupees... or just convert to USD and send them the $598.99 they want.
So wait, how is this not ransom? They committed a crime and completed their punishment plus paid a fine. Now they are being held against their will and can only be released after their families pay money that wasn't directed by the judicial system. I know this is India and not the US, but that sounds exactly like unlawful confinement and ransom to me.
A lot of money for poor refugee families who lost their homes to the war in Myanmar running from there and having no livelihood (likely was subsistence farming in the rugged hills of Chin state) no status in India to earn wages in India.
eng.mizzima.com
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