The woman had been an inmate since July 2019. (File)
A 43-year-old Ugandan national, who was lodged at Tihar Jail’s women prison, died on July 25 during treatment at a hospital — over a month after an “incident of unrest” during which “jail staff resorted to minimum force to control”.
Jesca Sarah Kafeero had been an inmate since July 2019, and was one of the 25-30 foreign inmates who protested on June 16 against not being given bail in the wake of Covid.
Delhi Prisons DG Sandeep Goel said, “The inmate had suffered an injury in her right hand during the incident of unrest by some foreign inmates in jail number 6 on June 16, when jail staff had to resort to use of minimum force to control them. As per diagnosis of the jail doctors, including a senior orthopaedic, she had a dislocation in the right hand called metacarpo phalangeal joint dislocation.”
On July 25 — 39 days after the incident — she was taken to DDU hospital for a surgery of the right hand where the dislocation happened. Goel said, “During the surgery, she expired, probably due to cardiac arrest.”
Regarding hospitalisation over a month after the incident, Goel said, “She was given proper treatment as per medical requirements. It is not a very serious injury and she was put on kachcha plaster. She was under regular medical observation in the jail. The jail orthopaedic doctor treated her with ‘close reduction’ as per medical practice. When this did not work, she was referred to DDU hospital, where doctors, after examination, decided to go for surgery. Her other parameters were normal and she did not have any other comorbidities.”
Goel said that on June 16, as the jail staff tried to control the protest, “at least 15 inmates and 10 jail staffers suffered minor injuries”. Asked about allegations of lathi charge, he said, “The staffers have lathi with them usually and sometimes pushing around happens with that. Maybe for a moment or something, it happened in this case too.” Inquest proceedings have been initiated, said Goel.
Kafeero was sent to Tihar Jail on July 6, 2019 in a case of NDPS registered by the Narcotics Control Bureau.