Mangalore: Undertrials Allege Harassment by Jail Warden

Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (VM)

Mangalore, Jan 8: The undertrials of the district jail have accused the jail officials of indulging in communalism and harassing the prisoners.

The allegations were made by an undertrial during the visit of a high court judge and police commissioner to the jail on Monday June 7.

The warden of the judicial wing of the jail was accused of behaving rudely with the undertrials. "He also collects money from them at the time of their release and for providing medicine when they are sick,” said Mohammed Faisal, an undertrial for the past 8 months, in his complaint.

The warden reportedly also collects money from the jail inmates who are to be produced in the court. “Guards accompany us only if we them pay them money,” Mohammed claimed.

He also said that since the warden has been in good terms with higher police officials in the city, he has been able to carry out these activities with no trouble.

"The warden belongs to Sangh Parivar and is closely connected with them. Hence he tortures Muslim inmates in the jail by not producing them before the court on time. This kind of practice has been going on in the jail for past several years," he said.

“If undertrials go against the warden then he sees to it that they are punished properly. Sometimes, at the time of their release, the undertrial is directly taken to the police station from the jail where he is treated badly. This can be done only with police backing and political power,” he said.

The jail inmates are in good terms with each other in the new building of the district jail and the same follows for the jail staff. "But if the jail staff do not obey the warden, then with the use of political power they are transferred elsewhere," Mohammed claimed.

Police commissioner Manish Karbikar said that the police have received Mohammed Faisal's complaint, but nothing could be done about it as the jail is not under the purview of his department. A separate department is in place for handling jail issues, and the complaint would be forwarded to the officials concerned, he assured.

Jail superintendent Doddakamaiah said that he joined duty in Mangalore only one-and-a-half months ago, and so far, he had not come across any incident as alleged in the complaint. He, however, admitted that the problem of escorts (who accompany the undertrials to court) does exist.

"Sometimes, due to unavailibility of escorts, some of the undertrials cannot be produced in court. The number of undertrials that can be produced in court depends on the number of escorts provided by the police commissioner. The complaint has been lodged by those who did not get escorts," he said.