Bengaluru: Inmates forced into having sex; SHRC wants thorough probe

By KR Balasubramanyam & Bharath Joshi

BENGALURU: State Human Rights Commission Chairperson Meera C Saxena wants a thorough probe into allegations that some women inmates at the Parappana Agrahara Central Prison were forced by jail staffers into having sex with male inmates.

The former IAS officer met Chief Secretary Kaushik Mukherjee on Thursday evening, and submitted a three-page confidential report, highlighting her observations, and recommending a slew of measures to step up the security of women inmates. On Wednesday, the chairperson had interacted with women inmates in the prison after asking the jail staff to stay out. The Commission's staff recorded statements of the women inmates ­ both convicts and under trials ­ during her visit.

Meera declined to disclose the contents of the report fearing for the safety of inmates. Speaking to ET, she said: “I have suggested a certain course of action from the government in view of the sensitivity of the reports. Since I cannot do a full-scale probe at the prison, I have recommended a thorough enquiry by the competent government agency to uncover the facts“.

A full week after the allegations became public, the government inquiry into the issue has not even begun. The three-member inquiry committee headed by NT Abroo, director of the women and child development department, is yet to visit the prison, although it is ex pected to submit its report by November 29.

Additional chief secretary, home department, Pattanayak SK admitted that the two letters, purportedly written by women prisoners, had not been accessed by the officialdom.

The letters, addressed to the Chief Justice of Karnataka, were found by the chief metropolitan magistrate in the prison's complaint box. They alleged that wardens and a few officials ­ who were named in the letter ­ were charging male prisoners Rs 300-500 and forcing women prisoners to comply. Although the magistrate forwarded the letters to the Principal City Civil and Sessions Judge on September 8 as part of his bimonthly prison report, the letters are yet to reach the addressee.“The Karnataka High Court has not received any letters,“ an official source confirmed to ET.

Mysteriously, PN Jayasimha, DIG, Central Prison, maintained that there was no letter in the complaint box.

“That's what we were informed, since the complaint box can be accessed only by the chief metropolitan magistrate,“ he said.

Minister for Women and Child Development Umashree visited the prison last week and virtually gave a clean chit to prison officials.Pattanayak, however, said that the minister's findings would not have a bearing on the official probe.“The minister visited the prison in her capacity,“ he said. The official probe would go well beyond the allegations, he added.