Safety of jail inmates comes under scanner

Bhubaneswar: The death of Mamita Meher murder key accused Gobinda Sahu by alleged suicide at Kantabanji sub-jail on Tuesday has turned the spotlight on the safety of inmates in jails, and surveillance and alertness of jail authorities.
Human rights campaigners said the safety of prisoners is solely the responsibility of the jail concerned. “Deaths of inmates caused by suicide, firing, attack by fellow prisoners and other means amount to gross negligence by the jail authorities. The circumstances leading to such deaths and the causes should be properly found out and preventive measures taken to thwart such incidents in the future,” activist Biswapriya Kanungo, who has been raising issues relating to custodial death, torture and human rights violation of undertrial prisoners, said.
Jayant Nayak, another human rights activist, said jails have adopted steps to prevent suicides and other crimes on their premises. “There have been standard operating procedures (SOPs) to prevent suicides in jails. Sadly, its compliance is lacking. Jails have turned into hubs of criminal activities where goons can easily get narcotics substances and mighty inmates get VIP treatments,” Nayak said. At least 16 inmates allegedly died by suicide inside different jails in the state between 2019 and 2021, stated the report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). Tardy trial, delay in getting bail and mental illness were some of the prime causes of the suicides.
According to the SOP, superintendents of jails should conduct regular environmental audit in prisons to find out vulnerable places and articles that may help inmates to commit suicide and take immediate preventive measures.
The jail authorities should also keep CCTV surveillance on inmates showing suicidal tendencies. Instances have come to the notice that some prisoners died by suicides in the past by hanging in the cells, toilets or isolated places. “Such unnatural incidents put question marks on the security arrangement and alertness of the duty staff. Preventive measures could have been taken to protect their lives,” read a circular issued by the prisons directorate in September last year.
According to the circular, all wells inside the jail should be fenced with grated doors with locks. Prisoners will not be engaged inside any well for any purpose. The cells or isolation wards shall be properly searched and appliances or articles that may facilitate suicides should be removed.