Although attempting to commit suicide is a bailable offence, Sharmila had earlier refused to sign bail bonds, maintaining that she had not committed an offence.
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“I have been fasting for 16 years and not got anything for it”, she said during a recent court appearance.
“Let them kill me, the way people killed Mahatma Gandhi. the way they killed Jesus Christ, ” Sharmila said.
She was released from custody on Tuesday after she promised a court she would end her fast and submitted bail of Rs10,000 ($150).
Babloo Loitongbam, a rights activist close to Irom Sharmila, says he expects her to be freed later Tuesday, once the paperwork is processed.
Sharmila began her fast after security forces, given wide powers under the immunity law, killed 10 people in the state, which has been long plagued by violent government crackdowns and separatist violence.
Sharmila ended her hunger strike by tasting a drop of honey in Imphal.
“Irom Sharmila’s decision to break her hunger strike gives India another chance to start a dialogue and recognise how the AFSPA has alienated Manipur for over 35 years”. She broke her fast by tasting honey and then wept for several moments.
The secret of Manipur’s “Iron Lady” Irom Sharmila’s fairly good health even after undertaking a hunger strike for 16 years, during which she was forcibly nose-fed, lay in her will power and the habit of practising yoga daily.
“The only way to bring change is electoral process”, Sharmila said last month, according to a statement from Amnesty International. There was zero dialogue.
It gives Indian forces sweeping powers to search, enter property and shoot on sight, and has been criticised as a cover for human rights abuses.
Court proceedings had began at 11:15 am, and at 11: 45 am, court officials reportedly said that the proceedings will go on for another hour.
Irom is campaigning for the repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), which covers large parts of the northeast and the restive state of Kashmir.
The act also prohibits soldiers from being prosecuted for alleged rights violations except with express permission from the government. Such prosecutions are rare.
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Sharmila told CNN-News 18 that her fight against AFSPA would continue as she wanted “a clean democracy in Manipur”. The Iron Lady of Manipur, as she has been known, now wants to contest elections as an independent candidate.
