Like other prisons in the country, the Mansehra district jail is overcapacity distressing the inmates, including men, women and children.

Made for 485 people, the jail has more than 680 prisoners crammed into cells, where many sleep on the floor. Regretting lack of facilities, the inmates declare the time spent behind bars a nightmare.

Many complain of the flawed judicial system insisting they’re a victim of the delay in legal redress.

Regretting overcrowded cells and lack of facilities, the people languishing in Mansehra jail declare the time spent behind bars a nightmare. They complain of the flawed judicial system insisting they’re a victim of the delay in legal redress.

They blame their misery on police, legal fraternity and civil society.

Asserting innocence, some hold the society at large responsible for their crimes.

Juvenile prisoner Said Aga told Dawn he was in jail for killing a man, who wanted to sexually abuse him.

“What else could I do than taking the life of that bad man to protect my honour?”

The child complained dispensation of justice was delayed to him as lawyers for the deceased’s family were dragging out the case by absenting themselves from the court frequently.

“They (rivals) want to teach me a lesson by prolonging the litigation,” he said.

Schoolteacher Syed Peer Zaman Shah insisted he was falsely implicated in murder case.

“I have changed three lawyers as they mostly remained absent from the court and thus, delaying decision in my case,” he said.

The undertrial prisoner insisted more than half of the cases even those of murder could be judged on the first hearing or the third hearing at maximum but most lawyers won’t let that happen because if that happened, they would be out of work.

He also complained the jail hospital lacked facilities.

“The government is not taking our (prisoners’) health issues seriously. Look our jail hospital has no ambulance to the misery of especially those facing a medical emergency. Also, prisoners totaling around 700 have little or no access to basic healthcare and medicines,” he said.

Another prisoner, Mohammad Daud, insisted the police had detained him after his in-laws formally accused him of kidnapping their daughter for marriage.

“I’ve been behind bars for years just because I married the girl of own choice against her family’s desire,” he said.

The inmate declared the police a ‘big hurdle’ to the dispensation of justice to him saying fabricated cases were registered against him for bribe.

He said he had little hope to get justice under the current circumstances.

Gul Mohammad, another prisoner, said he was a heart patient and had no access to treatment and facilities in jail.

“If I am found guilty, I should be sent to the gallows but I don’t deserve such cruel treatment,” he said.

The prisoner said the prisoners belonged to Mansehra, Abbottabad and Torghar districts but unfortunately, the annual medicine budget for them was less than Rs200,000.

He asked if such a meagre amount of money was enough to cater to around 700 prisoners.

Gul Shahzad, another inmate, complained about the excessive loadshedding in jail and said the prolonged suspension of electric supply stressed prisoners out, especially in the current scorching hot weather.

Mohammad Sharif, who belongs to Karachi, complained his wife and other family members had got him detained over the false charge of the daughter’s rape.

“How I can defend myself when the entire family is against me and that, too, against an offence that no father can even think about committing,” he said.

The prisoner said there was no lawyer to plead his case.

He said his family heavily bribed the police to book him and that he wasn’t even given an opportunity to defend himself in front of the police.

Another prisoner, Mohammad Junaid, alleged that lawyers were a hurdle to the dispensation of justice to him as they mostly didn’t appear before the court despite being paid fee without delay.

“I was taken to the court many times but wasn’t produced before the judge as the lawyers were on strike,” he said.

The inmate said lawyers shouldn’t boycott the court proceedings as such conduct delayed justice.

“Those kept here desperately wait for freedom,” he said.

Other prisoners complained about the shortage of beds, medicines and other facilities at the jail hospital and said unfortunately, there was no female staff at the hospital.

They said recently, a woman inmate gave birth to a child in the absence of medical aid and midwife.

Non-official jail visitor Shahjehan Khan Swati, who was appointed by the provincial home department last year, said he would soon take up the prisoners’ problems with the relevant authorities for necessary action.

“There’re many grey areas in our system of justice and therefore, it is time that the government and other stakeholders join forces to address them effectively. A comprehensives strategy is needed to ensure dispensation of justice to all without discrimination,” he said.

Mr. Swati, who is also the member of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council, the supreme body of lawyers in the province, said the legal fraternity had decided to cut the rate of their strikes by 70 per cent to prevent unnecessary adjournment of cases and prolonged litigations to the relief of common man.

“Now, the Pakistan Bar Council has the authority to give the call for strike or boycott of courts under the extreme circumstances. I think if the decisions of the Pakistan and provincial bar councils on the matter are strictly followed, the lawyer strike rate will come to 30 per cent,” he said.

Mr. Swati said he had donated Rs100,000 worth of medicines from own pocket to the jail hospital but under the current circumstances, which were very alarming, the annual budget for the inmates of three districts should be increased from the meagre Rs0.2 million to at least Rs1 million, while prisoners should be provided with basic health services.

He said justice didn’t mean only that a man should be convicted or acquitted and instead, it meant the trouble-free provision of rights promised by the law to the people.

Published in Dawn, June 26th, 2016