March 7, 2004

Women prisoners are often held in custody indefinitely by male police officers without the knowledge of the courts. Most incidents of sexual abuse occur during this period of illegal detention

IT was a typical afternoon in the courts of law. The British-built red-brick building called the City Court was echoing with noise, and presented a scene of chaos. Sitting in the premises of these huge buildings that cater to justice, one muses on what goes on here.

Suspects, witnesses, relatives and friends of the accused try to provide assistance and support in their own ways. Under-trial prisoners are brought hand-cuffed and chained in front of magistrates whose chairs generally remain empty. Every week, they get a new date, hoping to get a hearing, if not the judgment, on their next visit, but each time they return empty-handed to their dingy barracks.

Things are even more atrocious for the female prisoners. Frightened, threatened and sulking women inmates are put in the City Court lockups like cattle, and wait for their turn to be brought in front of the jury. Lawyers put up their own terms and conditions to plead their cases. Poor women prisoners from different rural areas cannot even understand the meaning of the conversation of their lawyers, who are ready to exploit them at every juncture.

What to talk of just the International Women’s Day, this frenzy is ever the same in law courts. It’s a remorseless engine of oppression that goes on unabated. To watch these hapless women stand in the courtyard, heads down, thinking sullenly, doesn’t encourage you to talk about subjects like the importance of Women’s Day. It irks the women who spend their lives fighting such criminal apathy.

“Women’s Day? What the hell are you talking about,” young and intense Sughra burst out caustically. “I don’t even know what this Women’s Day means! There isn’t a single day for women to even think of their rights. We do not dare to dream of ever achieving our full rights in this society, or raise voices against the injustices, as our lives are dark, suppressed and weighed down by shame, for no rhyme or reason.”

This 20-year-old desperate girl, Sughra, has an advanced second pregnancy, and she is being held in the lockup for allegedly kidnapping a three-year-old girl of her neighbours. She is charged under sections 363/342/375. “My husband and I were arrested even after the girl was recovered. Police have no ears for the complaints of the poor. Denial of rights is what they can hand out to us,” she said ruefully.

Pakistani police habitually deny women basic protection and often refuse to register rape complaints by women. Officers often illegally imprison women in police lockups for days at a time without officially registering any charge against them or producing them before the magistrate within the prescribed 24-hour period. Women prisoners are often held in custody indefinitely by male police officers without the knowledge of the courts.

Most incidents of sexual abuse of female captives occur in this period of illegal detention. Female detainees are imprisoned under the Zina Ordinance, for kidnapping, theft, murder, dacoity, drug trafficking and causing hurt with a weapon etc. Poverty drags these underprivileged women behind the bars.

The World Bank has published a revealing new study of the causes and effects of global poverty. Over 60,000 men and women in 60 countries are living under the bone-crushing stress of poverty. The report says that 56 per cent of the world’s population lives in slums, without ever getting anywhere near getting the basic rights. Among 1.3 billion people living in poverty, almost half of them are living in South Asia, and 75 per cent of the poor are females. The underlying cause of poverty, both for men and women in South Asia, is the unshakable traditional social structure.

“I used to get Rs200 for each round as I parcelled charas and heroine from one agent to another,” a mature, chadar-clad woman named Parveen said between tearful sobs. “I was doing this job for a long time on the instructions of some peers in my village. My friend suggested this hideous business to me in order to raise my kids. I don’t know if I should call her my friend, but a number of poor women still put their lives in danger to transport this poison to keep life going in these difficult times. But I was unlucky that I was caught.”

According to reports, nearly 2,000 women are being held in jails across the country. The greater part of this number is in Sindh and Punjab. Many women inmates are sulking inside the prison due to criminal negligence within the judicial system, which wastes great time over complicated procedures that keeps delaying the actual hearing of the case.

At Karachi Women Jail, 225 inmates are crammed in six barracks, alongwith 42 kids. The figure includes 63 foreigners, who are mostly locked up for drug trafficking. Each barrack houses 35 to 55 inmates. Frantic and frustrated women kick, hit, push and shove each other over small matters in congested barracks.The jails in Larkana, Sukkur, Faisalabad, Multan, Jhelum, Gujrat and Rawalpindi share a large number of female prisoners.

Shahnila is the youngest of all inmates at Karachi Women’s Jail. She has just completed her fourth year in imprisonment under a kidnapping charge. She is a matriculate and helps other inmates by writing letters and applications for speedy trials. Her husband is a driver, who is also at the Central Jail under the same charge. “My husband was involved with a teenage girl and he ran away with her to spend a night. The parents of the girl lodged a complaint against both of us, and the police got hold of me without carrying out any investigations. My six-year-old son, who is also here with me, questions me about his father’s whereabouts. He wants to go out and become a part of the outer world. I am afraid that society might point fingers at him for being the son of criminal parents,” says Shahnila.

The jail authorities exploit young, illiterate, poor women prisoners, either sexually or physically. Reports say that higher officials use these women for their household chores. Health facilities are almost non-existent in rural Sindh and Punjab women prisons.

Some countries continue to permit corporal punishment and the routine use of fetters, shackles and chains for women. The heavy bar fetters used in Pakistani prisons, for example, turn simple movements such as walking into a painful ordeal. In many prison systems, gratuitous beatings are so common as to be an essential part of prison life. Lady police force at the Women Police Station also tortures the women accused and women prisoners. As for women placed in male police stations, there have been quite a few cases of the investigating officers misbehaving with them.

“I am trying my level best to facilitate women prisoners during my tenure,” said a high-ranking female official at Karachi Women’s Jail. “The Montessori and adult school within the premises keeps both mother and child in close proximity with the outer world. The facility of a computer room, library and a skill development centre, for jobs such as sewing, embroidery, candle-making, has helped the destitute come up with creative ideas and utilize their time on constructive activities during imprisonment.”

Having said this, prisons situated in rural areas anywhere across the country need lots of modification at all levels. It is good that a few NGOs are working within their capacity to provide education, basic medicines and legal assistance to the inmates and their children.

Cases of TB and HIV/AIDS, among other diseases, are also found among the prisoners. Proper investigation and follow-ups for the diseases are acutely absent due to the negligence of senior jail authorities, and also due to the non-cooperative attitude of the government officials concerned.

Successive governments in the last 36 years have established three commissions of inquiry into the sexual exploitation of women. However, most governments have disregarded the recommendations that were put up by these commissions. The Hudood laws continue to work against the notions of fair play and justice, and are heavily biased against women.

The sitting government has made a commitment towards the repeal of Hudood Ordinance, and to give respect to the daughters of Eve at any cost. A committee for the welfare of female prisoners to assist in the management of women jails for the welfare of under-trial and convicted prisoners in Sindh has been formed recently at the Central Prison, Karachi, under the chairmanship of Nasir Aslam Zahid. One can but hope that something would come out of this development, although committees have a tradition of sitting on their reports forever!

Prison, a place where roads only lead to dark barracks, anxiety, frustration, exploitation and fear, must be reformed in every sector from training to re-enforcement of authorities at all levels. Women bear and raise the future of the country. They cannot be neglected or disregarded, whether by state or society. Women languishing in prisons and lockups are no exception.

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