Accommodation crisis leads to subhuman life at Barisal jail

The Barisal Central Jail is crammed with prisoners more than double its capacity, pushing the inmates to lead a subhuman life.

Crises of solitary cells for the death row inmates, separate ward for children and juveniles and shortage of jail guards have become acute recently.

Colonial rulers set up the jail in 1829 on 21 acres of land in the district town and it was upgraded as central jail on July 1, 1997.

The jail is designed to accommodate 633 prisoners, while currently it houses 1,240, with the number most often reaching 1,600.

Of the current prisoners, 657 are convicted (Koyedi) and 583 under trial prisoners (Hajati).

Of them, 45 were death-sentenced prisoners, including a woman, 49 had been serving life term, 34 were female, 40 were children and juvenile, 8 were militant suspects.

At present, the jail has a one-storey, a three-storey, and 2 two-storey buildings, a tin-shed building and a 34-bed two-storey jail hospital building.

According to the normal procedure, death row inmates have to be confined in solitary cells for psychological and security causes. But 45 death-sentenced prisoners, including the female one, and 8 extremists and militants are detained in 12 condemned cells, ignoring safety and security standards of the prisons.

The children and juvenile prisoners are kept in a vulnerable situation with the convicted criminals in the jail.

The Barisal Central Jail has six-bed two prison cells at Barisal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital.

The contingent of about 200 jail guards, deployed for maintaining discipline and security in the prison, was not extended to cover the increased number of prisoners.

About fifteen per cent of them are engaged as domestic helps at different residential quarters of the jail officials, sources said.

Md Sagir Mia, senior jail superintendent in-charge of the Barisal Central Jail, said as per jail code at least 36 square feet space is required for each non-criminal prisoner, 24 square feet space for each convicted and under trial prisoner, 54 square feet separate condemned or solitary cell should be allotted for every death-sentenced prisoner.

Condition of the jail hospital is beggar description as over 80 prisoners stay here without any permanent doctor.

Well-off prisoners occupy the beds with the help of the corrupt jail officials, while the poor prisoners often lie on the floor to treat different types of skin, stomach and other infectious diseases.

Due to the space shortage, in one of the 2 two-storey buildings, 120 prisoners are kept in each floor with the capacity for detaining 40 prisoners per floor and 60 prisoners are detained per floor in another two-storey building with the capacity of keeping  only 30 prisoners.

A jail source, on condition of anonymity, said the number of the arrested is increasing every day but number of the released is fewer than the arrested.

On the other hand, prisoners who are convicted for over 14 years, militants and seriously sick prisoners have been sent to the central jail from other five district jails including Barguna, Bhola, Pirojpur, Patuakhali and Jhalakathi district of the division.

Beside the accommodation problem, the prisoners are beset with nutrition, health, sanitation, sports facility and amusement crises, and are facing corruption, inhuman behaviour and torture, absence of legal aid and other basic humanitarian problems and deficiencies.

About the security and space crisis, the jail officer said, the authorities have taken steps to increase the number of security guards and build more buildings.

However, the upgraded status of the central jail is not yet maintained with full facilities and appointment of higher officials like deputy inspector general of police (prison).

DIG prison of Khulna is in-charge of the Barisal Central Jail and it created complexity in maintaining administration in Barisal, he acknowledged.

'We heard that project for constructing two multi-storey buildings in Barisal Central Jail compound has been approved by the authorities concerned last month,' the jail superintendent said.

Source : New Age