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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Are you taking care of pregnant inmates, top court asks states -Dhananjay Mahapatra

Are you taking care of pregnant inmates, top court asks states -Dhananjay Mahapatra

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published Published on Aug 4, 2013   modified Modified on Aug 4, 2013
-The Times of India


NEW DELHI: Are you taking proper care of pregnant inmates and ensuring that the children born to women prisoners do not grow up in the shadow of criminals? the Supreme Court asked the states and ordered inspection of their prisons.

A bench of Chief Justice P Sathasivam and Justices Ranjana Desai and Ranjan Gogoi on Thursday ordered, "We direct all the State Legal Services Authorities to inspect all jails including sub-jails in their states, take note of the prevailing situations in terms of the various directions issued in court's order dated April 13, 2006, and submit a detailed report to this court within a period of eight weeks from today."

Amicus curiae - senior advocate Ranjit Kumar and lawyer Binu Tamta - brought to the SC's notice that though the court had in 2006 ordered the states to take salutary steps to make pregnant inmates lives a little comfortable within the four walls of the jails and to prevent criminality cast shadow on the children born in prisons, there had been no information supplied to the court since 2007.

The April 13 order seven years ago was passed by the SC in response to a PIL filed by R D Upadhyay complaining that governments were not bothered about scars of incarceration on little children lodged in jails along with their mothers or been concerned about the needs of pregnant women put behind bars.

The court ordered the Centre and states to provide within three months cradles, creche, daycare centres and woman doctors in prisons to take care of pregnant inmates and dependent children lodged along with mothers in jails across the country.

As per 2006 figures, the number of women inmates, including convicts and undertrials, in the country was around 10,000. Nearly 1,000 children were also incarcerated along with their mothers. Their only fault was they were dependent on their mothers. The court had issued a series of guidelines in an attempt to improve the living conditions of these children, who were victims of circumstances.

Children lodged in prisons because they are dependent on their mothers, who are behind bars, won't treated as undertrials, the SC had said trying to erase the prisoner tag from the young ones.

It had ordered that those born to women inmates would be given a 'clean' birth certificate. The infant's place of birth would not be shown as prison, it would preferably be noted as 'home', the court had said.

The court had understood the need of the child to be with its mother till the age of six and allowed women prisoners to keep their wards with them till they attained the specified age.

The infants would have provision for nurseries and other facilities required for their protection inside prison and mother and child would get adequate and regular medical attention from a 'lady doctor', it had ordered.

Covering the finer points relating to proper development of a child and to avoid the scars of prison casting a shadow on their future life, the court had ordered jail authorities to provide proper facilities for their education and recreation.

The children and the mothers with new-born would be provided with nutrients and proper diet, including fruits and milk etc, it said. When the mother of the infant falls ill, alternative provisions would be made to take care of the infant.

Stressing on education facilities for children lodged along with mothers, the court said if such facilities were not available, then the inmate would be shifted to the nearest prison where she and her children could avail of them, it had said.


The Times of India, 4 August, 2013, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Are-you-taking-care-of-pregnant-inmates-top-court-asks-states/articleshow/21586521.cms


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