Patna: With nearly one death taking place every second day last year in jails in Bihar, all is not well within these high-walled fortresses supposed to serve as reformatories.

According to official figures, 180 prisoners died across the state in 2007 — almost one death every two days. The state accounted for 205 custodial deaths in 2005, 175 the following year, 180 in 2007 and 56 in the first four months this year, IG (prisons) Sandeep Paundrik said.

The police officer, however, denied involvement of jail officials in any of these deaths, saying the prison officials never used third degree methods with the inmates, as the amended CrPC mandated magisterial inquiry into all cases of custodial deaths.

Referring to the high number of such incidents in Bihar, which has 54 jails, Paundrik attributed the deaths mainly to the age factor and said that congestion and improper civic amenities resulted in the poor health of the inmates.

“Over 44,000 prisoners are lodged in 54 jails with the capacity to accommodate only 24,500 people.Over 1,400 prisoners are above 70 years of age and suffering from various diseases requiring frequent medical check-ups and regular monitoring,” he said.

There was also an acute shortage of doctors and paramedical staff, the IG said, adding, while there were only 45 doctors against the sanctioned strength of 65, in several jails there were no paramedical staff.

While acknowledging that jails in Bihar were overcrowded, the human rights activists want every case of custodial death immediately reported to the National Human Rights Commission.

Prabhakar Sinha, vice-president of People’s Union for Civil Liberties, said that though the amendment to Article 176 of the CrPC had ensured that every case of death, in police or jail custody, was inquired into by a judicial magistrate and not by an executive magistrate, independent inquiries by the human rights organisation had revealed that lapses on the part of jail authorities were the main reason behind custodial deaths.

“The state governments across the country need to be sensitised about the human rights of the prisoners and they should evolve an effective mechanism to check maltreatment,” he said.

The jail authorities should abide by the NHRC directive that every custodial death be reported to it within 24 hours of the occurrence, the postmortem examination videographed and the tapes sent to the human rights watchdog, Sinha said.

Source : DNA