Tamil Nadu - Tirunelveli   

The inmates feel at home in prison

JUBILATION: Inmates of Palayamkottai Central Prison celebrating Deepavali with their family members on Monday.

TIRUNELVELI: ‘Deepavali 2008’ will remain fresh in the minds of the 147 inmates of Palayamkottai Central Prison as they could celebrate it with their family members though they were under incarceration.

After he himself witnessed the attitudinal change of the prison inmates who met their family members, especially their children, on a couple of occasions inside the Central Prison at Puzhal, ADGP (Prisons) R. Natraj asked R. Arivudainambe, Superintendent (In-Charge), Palayamkottai Central Prison, now housing 1,338 inmates, including 450-odd convicts, to arrange for such a meeting on Deepavali.

On receiving message from the prison authorities, relatives of 147 inmates reached the prison around 11 a.m. and were allowed in batches to be with their spouses for about an hour. As the wire mesh that separated the inmates and their family members during the audience vanished, jubilation overflowed all over the prison premises. Children sitting on the laps and shoulders of the inmates and their wives and mothers watching it with moist eyes could be seen everywhere. When the small children wanted to know the reason behind their fathers’ staying away in some other place and asked them to come with them, they struggled to answer.

The guests left the prison with a sense of satisfaction and with eyes brimming with tears.

“Though Deepavali is celebrated by the Hindus, it was a memorable occasion for inmates following all faiths. It’s a red letter day in the annals of our prison,” said S. Arumugam, Palayamkottai Central Prison Welfare Officer.

Sumptuous breakfast and lunch were served to the prisoners as part of Deepavali celebration.

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