Cherokee County man says mistake led to prison in India

CHEROKEE COUNTY, Ga. — A Cherokee County man on a church mission trip to India was thrown in prison there.  Henry Head says he spent four days behind bars in deplorable conditions.

From his home in Canton, Head has a carefully wrapped pile of legal papers he says his freedom depends on.  He says his nightmare began at an airport in Mumbai.

"And this airport official comes up and says, 'Are you Henry Head?  Do you have bullets in your bag?'  "No!" Head said.

But four bullets were  found in a backpack he had borrowed from his son for the journey.  Head and wife Lisa were in India on a mission trip with their church.  But Henry was thrown in prison.

"I was in a 40-by-30-foot cell.  And Sunday morning when I woke up, I counted a hundred guys in that cell," Head said.

The Heads learned it's illegal to possess ammunition in India.  They tried to explain that their son likes to hunt and they had no idea the bullets were in there.

"I just thought, I'm asleep.  I'm just going to wake up because this is just a bad dream.  I had this moment of, I'm not going to be able to keep it together here," Lisa Head said.

After four days of what Henry described as horrible conditions behind bars, and another 10 days waiting for the return of his passport, the Heads were finally allowed to leave the country.  He is now out on bail.  He has advice for anyone who gets into trouble overseas.

"Know who you're congressman and senators are.  Make sure you get in touch with people back home and say get in touch with these folks," Head said.

Head says Rep. Barry Loudermilk helped him get out of India.  His case is still going through the courts there.

Cox Media Group