Huffpost / by Piyasree Dasgupta
The national lockdown enforced due to the coronavirus outbreak has prevented the families from meeting the imprisoned activists.
A couple of weeks ago, Koel Sen received a call from a constable at the Byculla Jail in Mumbai, informing her that the facility to meet prisoners would be suspended soon, in view of the coronavirus outbreak in India.
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livelaw.in / by Nitish Kashyap
A total of 130 lawyers have written to the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, State Home Minister and Chief Justice of Bombay High Court expressing grave concern regarding the safety of “thousands of individuals incarcerated in prisons and other settings of detention such as observation homes, special homes, children homes, detention centers, borstal homes, etc” in the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic.
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31/01/2020
The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha
No transport has been arranged for those who are released, while inmates still in prison fear for their health.
Mumbai: Even as the Maharashtra state government has slowly begun releasing incarcerated persons on parole and interim bail as a safeguard against the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, fear and desperation has gripped those languishing in the jail.
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The Hindu / by Staff Reporter
“COVID-19 outbreak an occasion to look at overcrowded prisons in country.”
A group of activists and intellectuals has sought bail or parole for political prisoners lodged in various jails.
In a letter to the Central and State governments, eminent persons such as writers Arundhati Roy, K. Satchidanandan and Meena Kandasamy, journalist B.R.P. Bhaskar and academics Dilip Menon and Benjamin Zachariah pointed out that the COVID-19 outbreak was also an occasion to look at the overcrowded prisons in the country.
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30/03/2020
Kashimr Times / by KT News Service
New Delhi: About two dozen intellectuals, writers and academics of the country have made an urgent appeal to the government to ease the over-crowded prisons in view of the outbreak of Covid19 and also in keeping with the recent Supreme Court directive. They have sought release on bail or parole of at least some of the prisoners including political detenues from across the country.
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31/03/2020
The New Indian Express / by Prajanma Das
The Supreme Court has already directed the state governments to consider granting bail to remand prisoners, accused of committing crimes punishable with a maximum of seven years imprisonment.
Former Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba, Poet Varavara Rao, Dr Shoma Sen, Sudha Bharadwaj and several others including Padma and Veeramony in Tamil Nadu are in prison — either awaiting trial or are political prisoners of the state.
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The Indian Express / by Seema Chishti
The letters, which The Indian Express has access to, reveal a slice of their lives behind bars. Some talk about when they can possibly see the gallows, some are abstract ruminations on life and freedom, while some dwell on the circumstances of their arrest and merits of the case.
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Trigger warning: The article contains graphic descriptions of physical and sexual torture which might be triggering to survivors.
The Wire / by Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar
Electric shocks, bricks hung from private parts, threatened with rape, sexually assaulted, hung naked, hung upside down — these are some of the methods that Haryana Police has been undertaking in dealing with prisoners, both men and women, a study has revealed.
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Firstpost / by Meena Menon
‘Nyayadhin Bandi Kothdi,’ says a board tucked away in a secluded corner of the Sessions Court complex at Shivajinagar, Pune. That is where the under-trial prisoners who are produced in court are kept in transit from Yerwada Jail. Anxious relatives braved the rain on Thursday (27 June) to get a glimpse of their family members, but a thunderstorm put paid to that. Under-trial prisoners here are escorted to court, tied with thick rope, against Supreme Court rulings. However, the police are more careful with regard to the nine arrested in the high-profile Bhima Koregaon case where they seem to obey the law.
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Citizens for Justice and Peace / By Teesta Setalvad
Over the past 15 years, India’s jails have seen a rise in women inmates by 61 per cent, even though they constitute only 48.18% of the national population (according to the World Bank, 2017). Moreover, the Indian prison system has failed to respect their rights. From custodial torture, rape, denial of health services, lack of clean food and water and sheer ignorance on behalf of the state, women inmates languish amidst inhuman conditions in Indian jails.
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Business Standard / By Press Trust of India
Sukalo spent 45 days in jail sleeping on the bathroom floor but, she says, that was not the worst pain she endured in prison.
A member of the Gond tribe, largely found in central India, she had to eat food infested with insects, drink contaminated water and share space with other women she did not know.
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First published: Oct 5, 2014
National Confederations of Human Rights Organisations / By Kareena Gilani
Colours Of The Cage is an unsparing account of the nearly five years activist Arun Ferreira lost forever in Nagpur Central Jail after being accused of being a Naxalite. In May 2007, Ferreira was forced into a car by 15 men, beaten and blindfolded as he heard his abductors discussed the option of killing him off in an encounter. Till September 2011, Ferreira languished in prison while nine cases were slapped against him.
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First published: Jan 6, 2016
Frontline / By Frontline Staff
Arun Ferreira spent six years in Nagpur jail as a political prisoner. He was arrested in 2007 for alleged naxalite and anti-national activities under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. Eleven cases were registered against him. He fought a relentless legal battle to prove that the charges were false and completely fabricated. In January 2014, he was acquitted in all the cases for lack of substantial evidence. At the time of his release, he told Frontline: “My case is really nothing special. The real issue is the way political prisoners are handled and the blatant violations of the human rights of all prisoners.”
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