Other States - Orissa   

An appalling state of affairs

Staff Reporter

The lack of sensitivity on part of authorities has taken its toll on the State's women inmates

BHUBANESWAR : A fact-finding team, which was documenting the conditions of female prisoners in Orissa, came out with shocking revelations about the ordeals of the inmates lodged in different jails.

The women prisoners were facing serious health problems due to lack of attention on their personal hygiene, nutrition and privacy and absence of women doctors multiplied their miseries, the team of Nagpur-based Committee Against Violence on Women (CAVOW) told reporters here on Saturday.

"In Malkanagiri jail, a tiny space of 80 square feet, which has capacity to accommodate only four persons, was housing 21 women. They were locked in, not only all night but also for a few hours during the day since there was no regular female warden," the team revealed.

"The female prisoners are not even given access to some of the basic needs such as sanitary napkins and adequate bathing and washing soaps during their period. At least three prisoners are suffering from serious infections," Sudha Bharadwaj, advocate of High Court of Chhatisgarh and a member of the team, said here.

Male doctors only

She said the inmates also had to rely on male doctors, as female doctors were not readily available.

The team found a large number of instances where innocent tribal people had been picked up and branded as naxalites. "Only musical instruments have been seized from a group of girls who was returning from Bhubaneswar and they have been implicated in naxalite cases. One of the girls, Sariami Dora, was obviously a minor even after spending two years in jail. Her age, however, was shown as 21 years at the time of arrest," the members alleged.

Citing examples of two girls whom the team met at Berhampur jail, A. Anapurna, member of Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee, said: "the two girls, Surita Majhi and Bormoi Majhi were arrested along with four others of Kui Sanskrit Sangha in September last on charges of showing the films `Kranti and Lal Salaam'.

Full report soon

The girls, who were made out to be dangerous, turned out to be 14 or 15 years old. In fact, Bormoi is even handicapped."

The CAVOW team is likely to complete the full report on Orissa's women prisoners within one month and submit the report to various human right agencies.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Holi revelry leaves many scars
An appalling state of affairs
Laws protecting depositors' interests needed
Spurious drugs flood south Orissa
Villagers protest against SOG attack
IIME award for RRL director
Kandhamal police trap two poachers
7 injured in group clash

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu