Covid-19: Madurai jail bans prisoners from meeting kin

MADURAI: The authorities of Madurai Central Prison have banned the prisoners from meeting their kin due to the hike in Covid-19 cases. However, phone calls to the prisoners will be permitted.
Relatives, who visited the prison on Tuesday, read the notice stuck at the entrance and returned home without meeting their loved ones.
Deputy inspector general (DIG) of prisons D Palani said that the new restriction came into effect in Madurai Central Prison from Tuesday.
They have already banned visitors in other prisons, including the sub jails in southern districts, one by one in the last one month.
The phones that were bought last year for this purpose are being used again now, he said.
A source from the prison said that there were around 1,550 remand and convict prisoners.
Separate days in a week were allocated for each type of prisoner to meet their family members. Up to three persons were allowed to meet once in 15 days. Although Covid-19 cases are on the rise since the last one month, so far prisoners have not been infected.
Palani added that all precautionary measures such as wearing masks, maintaining social distancing and washing hands regularly was followed by prison staff and prisoners both inside the prisons and outside, when they are taken out to courts.
“Vaccinations are being arranged for the inmates, who are willing to take the shot. Apart from this immunity boosting medicines such as kabasura kudineer and arsenicum album (homeo) are being provided,” he said.
Another prison official said that the judicial officials have to decide to stop taking prisoners to the court.