Murder convict escapes from Cherlapally open jail, had 20 years prison time still left

HYDERABAD: A prisoner convicted for life in a murder case escaped from Cherlapally jail on Thursday. Kushaiguda police said that Malothu Hussain, 55, escaped from open jail at around 4.30am. He was sentenced in 2015 for killing a man in Khammam district.
Cops said that Hussain woke up early on Thursday to attend to his assigned work in the kitchen. "Hussian was among several prisoners who were working as cooks," said an official of Kushaiguda police, reiterating that he was an open jail prisoner.
In fact, Hussain was shifted to the open jail in 2021 because of his good conduct. All prisoners lodged there are allowed to stay within a huge fenced premises with minimal restrictions. Some of the gates at the facility do not even have guards. Hussain took advantage of this and escaped from the jail.
The matter came to light when other convicts found their co-prisoner missing and informed the jail staff. The staff in turn lodged a police complaint and launched a search for the runaway prisoner. "We are verifying CCTV footage and contacting his family members to track him down," said a police official.
According to prison staff, Hussain's conviction was confirmed by the high court and he has so far completed seven years and 10 months of imprisonment. There's another 20 years and six months of imprisonment pending. "It appears as if Hussain slipped into depression following the high court diktat," a jail official said. While the convict was granted parole in January 2023, he reported back to prison on February 2, as was ordered.