THE mind can be a prison for anyone afflicted with a mental health disorder. But for the countless mentally ill prisoners languishing in Pakistani jails, there is little to no treatment or respite from their ailments. Indeed, the harsh conditions within the prison confines exacerbates underlying illnesses, as many are thrown into these overcrowded spaces that lack natural sunlight and air, and privacy, and are often subjected to violent and volatile behaviour. There is also evidence of drugs being used within prisons, and torture used as a method to subjugate or exhaust inmates into compliance. Those prisoners who are placed in tiny isolation cells are perhaps the most vulnerable of all, lacking any human connection or understanding. While these prisoners should be receiving treatment, they are instead weighed down by the twin stigma of being both mentally unwell and a prisoner, and are thus condemned by society for being ‘deserving’ of their suffering — regardless of whether or not they are indeed guilty of their crime beyond reasonable doubt.

On Saturday, for instance, a report in this paper detailed the tragic tale of Kanizan Bibi, who was thrown into prison around 30 years ago, when she was just a teenager, for the murder of six individuals. She had been accused of being an accomplice in the murder of her employee’s wife and children, and was charged under Section 302/304 of the Pakistan Penal Code. Later, she was handed the death sentence, along with her employer, who was hanged to death in 2003. Despite being declared schizophrenic, and her death sentence being halted in a presidential stay, Kanizan Bibi is not a free woman and the noose still hangs around her neck. Last year, the mentally unwell prisoner Khizar Hayat breathed his last in a hospital, after suffering for 16 years in confinement. In his final days, Khizar was a shadow of his former self, suffering from hypertension and anaemia. May no one else be subjected to such a dreadful fate.

Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2020