Poor legal aid main issue at Byculla women’s jail: NCW

Inefficient legal aid service is the chief issue plaguing the Byculla women’s prison, according to a National Commission for Women (NCW) team that visited the prison on Friday.

The team, led by NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma, carried out an inspection of the prison and examined various aspects including overcrowding, availability of legal help, rehabilitation plans including skill development and training, legal awareness and legal help for inmates, facilities for their children, among others. The inspection was a part of the NCW’s ongoing project to visit all jails in the country in order to formulate a manual for comprehensive prison reforms for women inmates.

The team met all the undertrials who are suffering prolonged detention due to substandard legal aid and observed, “Many undertrials are languishing in jail despite being granted bail as many have no financial means to pay for bail bonds.” They also said there was an absence of an institutionalised system or fast-track courts for foreign women inmates who were in prison for offences such as trafficking and drug peddling.

The team also made note of the positives -- amenities and sensitivity to women have shown marked improvement, a separate area was demarcated for inmates with young children, and the inmates were happy with the quality of food. It pointed out areas that need substantial improvement, like availability of an in-house gynaecologist and paediatrician, an efficient legal aid service for undertrials, a crèche, guidance and a policy for pregnant women.

In June last year, the prison made headlines for all the wrong reasons -- an inmate, Manjula Shette, was alleged to have been brutally assaulted in her barrack inside the jail, after which she was allegedly stripped and a baton shoved into her private parts. Currently, former media executive and main accused in the Sheena Bora murder of 2012, Indrani Mukerjea is in the jail.