Prison Administration And Rights Of Women Prisoners In India

Priya Mondal, Balaji Law College, Pune

Akanksha Srivastava, Balaji Law College, Pune

ABSTRACT

Sense of Justice and the methods by which we have traditionally sought to fulfill it are the two most precious assets in our cultural heritage. The struggles of Democratic revolution in our country have erected a bulwark of procedures to assure a full protection against wrongful conviction, so that the innocent suspects might not be accused as criminals.

In our country, legal system is based upon non violence, mutual respect and human dignity of each individual. If a person commits any crimes, it does not mean that he ceases to be a human being and can be deprived of all those aspects of life which constitutes human dignity. Even prisoners are human beings and have human rights like any other individual. Prison torture is not the last medicine to administer justice rather it is a confession of failure to do justice to living being.

When something wrong is done to any society or any individual, it is the duty of the state to protect its people and its territory by giving punishment to the wrongdoer but at the same time it should keep in mind that the person committing such crime is also a human being and not an animal .For a prisoner all fundamental rights enshrined in our constitution are enforceable in reality, though restricted by fact of imprisonment.

Whether the prisoner is a men or women or belongs to the third generation, all are human beings and equal in the eyes of law. Our constitution also guarantees the right of personal liberty and hence prohibits any inhumane, cruel or degrading treatment to any individual be it of any gender or any nationality.

The condition of women prisoners in our country is more pathetic than the rest of the prisoners. Not only their rights are exploited but also their dignity is being snatched away by the so called "Protectors". They are merely a toy for their recreation and entertainment in closed four walls of their kingdom.

More than men, women face the problem of rehabilitation after being released from the prisons. The “jail returned” stigma makes them social outcastes. The Jail Committee Report shows that in many parts of the country ,women released from jails were forced to take an expensive pilgrimage, followed by holy bath and a community feast to hundred of their villages people before they are permitted to come back to their village….The stigma remains forever….[1]

[1] “The Indian Jail-A contemporary document” by Kumkum Chadha, pg 75