KARACHI, Nov 29: More than 50 boys and girls below seven years of age celebrated Eid in prison, paying the price for being the children of their accused or convicted mothers serving terms in the city’s women prison.
The youngest among those 56 children, a baby girl, is barely seven months old, according to the data gathered by this correspondent during a visit, the day before Eid, to the Youthful Offenders’ Industrial School and Special Prison for Women.
There was a larger than normal number of visitors on Tuesday who had come to reassure their near and dear ones that even though they would not be together on the happy occasion, they would not forget them during the celebrations. Similarly, there were activists of different NGOs, who had brought gifts and commodities for prisoners.
In all, there are 646 inmates — 312 male, 278 female and their 56 children, 171 more than the combined official capacity of the two sections of the prison. Most of the inmates — 222 female and 297 male — are under-trial prisoners (UTPs). Fifty-three female and eight male prisoners are foreigners.
Qamar Hussain Shah, the superintendent, said most of the foreigners were involved in narcotics cases. In reply to a question about the female UTPs, he said the prisoners involved in certain types of cases preferred to remain in the prison even after they had been granted bail. They feared they would be eliminated if they went out of the four walls of the prison, he elaborated.
Prisoners, visitors and other sources cited delay by courts when asked about the reason for such a large number of UTPs in the prison.
In most cases, said Mr Shah, witnesses did not appear before the court, causing a delay in the trial, or the prisoners were unable to arrange for the surety money required for their release on bail. The result is their continued stay in the prison, he added.
“My son was arrested along with three other co-accused in a murder case four months ago. But they have not presented the charge-sheet before the court yet, because two more co-accused have not been caught yet,” complained a grim-faced man, Iqbal. “Under this system, this situation can go on and on as the trial cannot go farther in absence of the absconding co-accused,” regretted the visibly helpless man.
“There is a clear-cut directive by the high court to the magistrates to visit the prison fortnightly to hold trials so that cases are disposed of speedily. But magistrates never heed those orders,” said another official source, requesting anonymity. There is an urgent need to quicken the pace of trial, he emphasized.
Official sources identified Ghazala, wife of Sadiq, as the oldest female UTP. Accused in a murder case committed within the limits of the Sher Shah police, Ghazala entered the special prison on May 11, 1998. Mustafa, son of Awaiz Khan, was such a UTP among male prisoners. He has been in the prison since March 13, 2000, and he too is accused in a murder case, committed in the jurisdiction of the Nazimabad police.
In reply to a question about how he felt after being in the prison for a year and a half, particularly on the eve of Eid, Abdul Raheem, a UTP accused in a burglary case, said he had learnt a lesson now and expressed determination to give up bad habits once out of the prison.
When his attention was drawn to the fact that there were 278 female inmates in the prison against the capacity of 125, the superintendent said a women prison had been set up on the premises of the Central Prison, Hyderabad, which would start functioning very soon. He said the situation in Karachi would definitely improve after the female prisoners belonging to Hyderabad (there are over 56 such prisoners) were transferred there.
