LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has announced three-month remission for those imprisoned in Punjab jails and release of 155 of them on payment of diyat (blood money) on their behalf by some philanthropists.

She visited the Kot Lakhpat, where she remained incarcerated along with her father and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif when the PTI was in power, and broke fast with women prisoners.

Ms Sharif announced three-month remission for all prisoners, except those serving jail terms in terrorism or murder cases and that 155 prisoners were being released with the help of some philanthropists who donated funds for paying their diyat.

She distributed gifts among the prisoners who were being released. Each of them was given Rs15,000 along with clothes, while women were also given bangles. She recalled her five months spent in the jail and that she could not meet her father more than once in a week though he was also incarcerated in a nearby cell.

Ms Sharif planted a sapling in the lawn of the jail and directed to plant more trees there. She also visited the cell where her father remained imprisoned.

She also inaugurated a 20-bed hospital for the rehabilitation of drug addicts as well as the video call facility for the prisoners, making it the first jail of its kind for providing such facility to prisoners.

She visited the jail kitchen and checked the quality of food being prepared for the prisoners.

Published in Dawn, March 18th, 2024