Sorry state of inmates
Khulna Central Jail
UNB
KHULNA: Inmates of Khulna Central Jail have been facing manifold problems due to lack of proper management and other facilities. The jail has been the worse one for children and female prisoners, as they hardly can have proper meals, let alone the correctional measures that can help them return to a decent life, reports UNB. A recent visit to the jail by the UNB correspondent has exposed the sorry state of the inmates as they shared with him their tales of woes that would otherwise have been faded away within the jail boundary.
Some juvenile inmates, preferring not to be named, alleged that they have been living with water leaks and a reek smell in their cells. Only 3 ceiling fans are there in the juvenile ward where 32 inmates live in a cooped up condition and that they are being served substandard meals.
Located near the main prison gate, the juvenile ward is basically a dilapidated structure made of corrugated tin sheets. It is separated from other adult inmate wards. The ward has a capacity of 12 people only and now is crammed with 32 inmates.
Although placed in juvenile ward, all 32 inmates have officially been shown on the papers as adults aged between 18 and 20 years. The papers also revealed that they were mostly held for theft, drug abuse or suspicious activities.
Advocate Mominul Haque, coordinator of Bangladesh Human Rights Implementation Organisation, told UNB, Jail authorities always tend to forget about the basic human rights of prison inmates. A prison is meant to be a correction centre but due to the negative atmosphere here, inmates hardly get any proper chance to rectify themselves. Khulna Central Jail was built in 1912 on the banks of Bhairab River. The whole complex has a decent outlook but the scene changes drastically when one enters its premises.
The visiting room there is in a crumbling state with cement plasters coming off from the walls, revealing bricks and iron rods inside giving a feeling of an abandoned, haunted house. The main prison building has a sign on it which says, Ensuring safety, showing path of light.
A jail officer, preferring anonymity, said the southern wall of the prison complex has turned riskier and that a woman inmate suffered injuries recently when parts of the ceiling crushed on the ground.
Some prison inmates told the UNB correspondent that 45 inmates are being stuffed inside the women ward which can hold up to 18 people only.
The prison register showed the whole prison complex can accommodate 608 people. But currently 1,545 inmates are held within the same space creating severe congestion. Among the inmates, five are awaiting capital punishment.
Besides, seven children are also living in the prison with their mothers detained there on various charges.
Several inmates said the food is terrible with stones being found in the rice. The vegetables and lentil soup is of low quality. The quantity of meat and fish per head serving is very inadequate for ones sustenance. Some juvenile inmates added that they are beaten up by jail officers if they ask for extra food.
Contacted, Deputy Commissioner of the district Md Mostafa Kamal and also the head of the Prison Inspection Committee, told UNB, The complaints of water leaks inside cells are not true. I visit the prison twice every month and also inspect the kitchen and juvenile ward there. I have not come across any such complaints before. Jailor Jannat-ul Farhad said the budget allocated by the government for special food on various national days is limited to only Tk 30 per inmate. So, they are saving 50 kg rice every day and serving less fish in order to balance the prison food distribution.
He also added that the rice served there is rationed by the government; hence there is no comment about the rice quality.
Farhad alleged that the jail authorities cannot provide extra fans in the wards. If anybody wants to donate fans for jail inmates as charity that can be a solution, he added.
He further said, The juvenile and women inmates are the ones who create more chaos. So, theyre often punished according to jail codes. Earlier, there had been physical tortures, but now such incidents have decreased. Also prices of five items in the canteen have been reduced; further price cuts will be done, if necessary.
Khulna Jail Super Md Kamrul Islam said the food quality at the jail is better than food served in any other prison of the country. A new prison building is being built for juvenile inmates, and upon its completion, the current problems faced by juvenile inmates will also be solved, he added.
