SHRC recommends disciplinary action against Trichy women prison superintendent

MADURAI: The State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has recommended to the Tamil Nadu government to initiate disciplinary action against the superintendent of the special prison for women in Trichy for falsifying documents to show that sanitary napkins were regularly procured from a voluntary organisation to supply to the inmates.
However, from October 2016 to April 2018 (18 months), the prison authorities had not provided sanitary napkins to the woman inmates, the commission found. The inmates were asked to procure the same from their relatives who came to visit them.

SHRC member D Jayachandran initiated suo motu proceedings on the issue in April this year after his visit to the Trichy prison. There were 98 women prisoners at that time. Most of the prisoners informed the commission member that they had not been provided with sanitary napkins since November 2016.


Subsequently, the commission directed the additional director general of police (ADGP), prisons, to submit a detailed status report regarding the steps taken by the department to issue sanitary napkins to woman inmates in prisons across Tamil Nadu within two weeks.

The commission had also directed the deputy director of health services, Trichy, and Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Chennai, to appear before it on May 15 for an inquiry.

After inquiries, the commission recommended disciplinary action against prison superintendent Rajalakshmi and said that no action shall be taken against the prisons director and health officials.