KARACHI, Jan 3: The prison for women in Karachi, which is one of the two prisons for women in Sindh, is overcrowded as more than double the number of prisoners are lodged in it than its sanctioned capacity, it is learnt.
According to the sources, non-existence of women’s prisons at many district headquarters in the interior of the province and non-production of undertrial prisoners (UTPs) in courts for the hearing of their cases regularly are among the many causes of the overcrowding.
The sources said non-production of UTPs in courts on dates of hearing of their cases regularly resulted in delay in decision on the cases as figures showed that of the 238 inmates only 47, which came to nearly 19 per cent, were convicts while others were UTPs.
Worse is the plight of the children, whom these inmates bring with them as there is no one outside the prison to look after them. So these innocent children are also undergoing prison terms. Worse still, they have been lodged in prison during their formative years when a child learns and picks up new things quickly.
The sources said there were more than 61 children living with the 238 inmates. Of these, six were living with convicts.
“Another cause of the overcrowding is that the majority of the prisoners are UTPs. They are poor and usually their families do not want to keep contact with them. This is why though more than 40 UTPs have been granted bail - the bail amount ranging between Rs10,000 and Rs200,000 depending on the crime they are accused of -, they have been languishing in the prison as they cannot arrange the bail amount,” the sources added.
The sources said another cause of overcrowding was that prisoners from many districts of the interior of Sindh were also lodged here as there were no women’s prisons in these districts. Now more that 30 such inmates were lodged in the women’s prison at Karachi. They were from the districts of Hyderabad, Badin, Thatta, Mirpurkhas and Umerkot. These prisoners were suffering more than the others as they could not be produced in courts in their districts on the dates of hearing of their cases regularly.
The sources added that nearly the entire staff of the women’s prison in Karachi were on deputation from other places as there were no sanctioned posts, or even separate budget, for the women’s prison here.
Responding to Dawn’s queries, the Superintendent of the Special Prison for Women, Karachi, Sheeba Shah, said one of the main causes of the overcrowding in the prison was the non-existence of prison for women at most of the district headquarters in the province. A prison for women was now being built at Hyderabad. After the prison was completed, prisoners from the districts of Hyderabad, Badin, Thatta, Mirpurkhas, Umerkot, etc would be shifted there.
Not only would this relieve the pressure from the prison at Karachi, it would also facilitate regular production of prisoners in courts as Hyderabad was nearer to these districts than Karachi, she said.
Answering a question about non-production of prisoners in court, she said it was the job of police. Since there was no sufficient number of vehicles in the police department, this affected production of prisoners in courts which, in turn, delayed the disposal of cases. The shortage of vans affected all the prisoners, but the prisoners from the interior were affected more. After they would shifted to Hyderabad, they could be produced in courts more frequently, she added.
She said innocent young children living with their mothers in the jail were also provided education from the Montessori level and teachers from among the inmates took the classes.
She said nearly 88 per cent (210 inmates) of the total number of women prisoners (238 inmates) had been booked under the Narcotics Act (66 women), and Hudood Ordinances (59), murder (55), kidnapping (19) and dacoity (11). A large number of inmates accused of narcotics-related crimes were foreigners - from Germany, France, South Africa, Benin, Singapore, Nigeria, Kenya, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Uganda, Mali, Zimbabwe, Senegal, Tanzania, etc.
She said all the foreigners had been lodged in one barrack, and commercial sex workers in another barrack. Another segregation was on the basis of age groups. This had been done to avoid trouble.
About the condition of the prison, she said with the help of philanthropists a new floor was being laid and new washroom doors were being fixed. There were already a library for the inmates and a playroom for their children. She said inmates were also given training in stitching, candle- making, embroidery work, etc, so that they could make a living after they were released from the prison. She said there was no display centre for the goods made by prisoners at the prison, like the one at Hyderabad jail where goods made by prisoners could be displayed and sold. The profit earned from the sale of these goods was given to prisoners.
She said most of the staff, including herself, were from the staff of the prison for women at Larkana and they their drew salaries from there.
She said the women’s prison’s budget, ration, etc were included in the budget, ration and other such things of the nextdoor juvenile jail, which the latter gave to the former.
