On the day of his arrest, an alleged child molester fell asleep for an entire year due to a peculiar medical ailment. He awoke in a hospital and was promptly placed in jail.
In July 2021, 28-year-old Ahmad Ali was apprehended at the Fiumicino airport near Rome, Italy, for the sexual assault of a minor.
The only time he talked after his arrest was to assert his innocence, but he quickly stopped eating and drinking, went asleep, did not react to noises or movements, and was fed through a drip.
The assailant was transported on a gurney to a video conference room at the Regina Coeli prison in Rome for every phase of his criminal proceedings, but he never awoke or responded to any questions.
Every stage of the attacker’s criminal proceedings were conducted in a video conference room at the Regina Coeli jail
Ali, a native of Pakistan, was allowed to appear in court despite his apparent unconsciousness because the judges felt he was lying, even as he was being transported between prison and hospital.
Medical experts testified twice in court that the defendant was experiencing “simulation due to Ganser syndrome,” a rare and poorly understood condition sometimes known as “nonsense syndrome.”
However, he never awoke throughout his repeated court appearances and remained hospitalized despite the continued criminal processes.
Ali awoke on the 9th of December in the hospital after a year of slumber and was immediately sent to prison.
His attorney Donato Vertone stated to Repubblica, “Ahmed awoke, and it seems like a miracle to me.”
In July 2021, 28-year-old Ahmad Ali was arrested at Fiumicino airport near Rome (pictured) for sexually assaulting a juvenile.
“Credit to the doctors Cardarelli in Naples. Don’t ask me how they did it; all I know is that yesterday he was talking and walking, while twenty days ago, based on his state, I felt he was going to die.
Ali claims he remembers little from his year-long slumber, recalling only his arrest at Fiumicino airport and brief hospitalization at the Pertini hospital in Rome before awakening in Naples with needles in his arm and crotch.
Ganser syndrome, commonly known as ‘prison psychosis’ since it typically affects inmates, is a problematic condition whose veracity has been questioned by the medical world.
Sufferers tend to imitate physical or mental ailments even when they are not ill, when doing so may be advantageous, yet they can have genuine symptoms.
Common symptoms include hallucinations, confusion, forgetfulness, and paralysis. This illness is a response to intense stress.
Ali’s story was brought to the attention of the neuroscientists at University College London by the Italian justice organization Antigone.
Susanna Marietti, the group’s national coordinator, stated, “I met young Ahmed on June 1 of last year in the clinical center of Regina Coeli jail. He was unconscious and had been in this position for several months.”
‘I knelt over his face and screamed at him, but he did not move a muscle; he was in a deep sleep.
“When I spoke with the cellmate, he stated that he had never awakened or moved, not during the day nor at night.”
Ali awoke shortly after UCL that a psychologist, psychiatrist, and physiotherapist collaborate on his motor rehabilitation.
Attorney Vertone stated, “I am certain they will continue to examine his case.”
Now I’m attempting to reconnect him with his family in Pakistan, as he hasn’t heard from them in over a year.
With any luck, Ali will be able to address the court for the first time at the January hearing, where the next hearing will be conducted.