LAHORE, June 28: Women prisoners are being deprived of certain facilities while they are also facing torture at the hands of guards. The complaints surfaced when Nasira Naseer, the coordinator for Special Monitoring Cell, paid a surprise visit to the women’s barrack in Kot Lakhpat jail on Tuesday.

For 60 women, most of whom with children, of the central barrack there are only 35 beds.

Some women told the coordinator that even the beds were not given to them. “They were given to us today when the jail officials learnt about the visit.”

For a total 118 women, the ward has seven toilets.

The quality of food offered was also poor as the officials charged Rs10 daily against the facility of cold water. The sick prisoners were not given proper medicines, they complained. The women also alleged that guards tortured them on way to courts while kin were not allowed to meet them.