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| Edited By: |Source: DNA |Updated: Nov 25, 2017, 07:34 AM IST
It seems the law enforcers in UP have become a lawless lot. A spate of police encounters and the complaint that over 2,000 prisoners have died in judicial custody in five years have inspired the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to take action. That the NHRC is seeking a response from I-G Prisons of UP in six weeks underscores the gravity of the allegation. Indian prisons are among the worst in the world.
Overcrowding, unhealthy living conditions, the poor health of prisoners and non-compliance with norms by jail authorities, which have been cited as some of the reasons for the deaths, are age-old problems. If the prisons have turned into hell, it’s because government and society couldn’t care less about prisoners. That it’s a human rights violation has been conveniently forgotten by the people. Prisoners are human beings who are serving sentences for the crimes they committed. They are anyway paying the price, but to strip them of dignity, block their access to basic amenities, is inhuman. Equally shocking is the allegation that 50 per cent of them were undertrials whose crimes have not yet been proven.
The criminal justice system should provide ways and means for reformation and rehabilitation, pave the way for convicts to return to society, and ensure that undertrials, who are languishing in jails because of their financial inability to secure bail or a competent lawyer, get justice at the earliest. What the country is witnessing is a shocking failure of a system that denies a person his right to life and dignity. That humanitarian touch, the touch of compassion from society can make a world of difference.
