Karnataka - Hassan   

Short-staffed jails in State overcrowded with inmates

HASSAN: State Human Rights Commission Chairman S.R. Nayak has expressed concern over the state of overcrowded prisons in Bangalore and other districts. Every day, two to three persons die in Bangalore’s Parappana Agrahara jail, he said. Speaking to The Hindu during a recent visit here, Mr. Nayak said that Parappana Agrahara jail had been constructed to house 4,000 prisoners, but now had over 7,000.

He said that even the Hassan district jail was no exception. Built for 150 inmates, the jail, as on Monday, housed 372 prisoners. The rule was that if the number of inmates exceeded 150, the prisoners had to be shifted to one of the central jails depending upon the gravity of the crime. “But when all central jails – in Bangalore, Belgaum, Bellary and Mysore — are overcrowded, where is the question of shifting prisoners from taluk jails to district jails or central jails,” he said.

Of the 372 inmates in Hassan jail, 258 are undertrial prisoners. Of them, 92 are between the ages of 20 and 25. The jail houses 22 women prisoners, although there are facilities only for 10. The number of staff sanctioned for the jail is 40, but the jails functions with just 24.

Jail Superintendent Anand Reddy claims to have written many times to higher-ups including the Director General of Police (Prisons) for staff members to be recruited, but to no avail. Owing to the shortage of hands, leave for the staff is hard to come by, and the are forced to work under extremely stressful conditions.

The overcrowding constantly exposes prisoners to infections. The Arsikere sub-jail, with a capacity of 14, houses 41. Recently, 30 of the inmates came down with gastroenteritis because they drank contaminated water. Only the sub-jail at Sakleshpur, which was recently inaugurated, is not filled to capacity. The 150-capacity-jail houses 100 inmates. It may be recalled that on September 23, undertrial prisoners in the Arsikere sub-jail went on a hunger strike. They demanded that a magistrate hear their grievances and withdrew their strike only when magistrate Chennakeshava promised to listen to their grievances.

Some of the accused, who have been remanded in judicial custody for petty cases, have been in jail for one to four months. Generally, undertrial prisoners in petty cases are granted bail in three days. There are hundreds of such undertrial prisoners waiting for their release.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Blood donation camp marks one year
Courts boycotted
Math head deplores leaders’ selfishness
Killed in accident
Short-staffed jails in State overcrowded with inmates

Copyright © 2009, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu