Two days from now the juvenile who was convicted of brutally raping a para-medical student in Delhi in 2012 will walk free. There are two concerns “ will he commit another crime and is he sufficiently reformed to be absorbed into society? While the first concern lies in grey area, because the boy, who is now a man, has served his three year sentence and one cannot keep him in jail because of the fear of what might happen. The second one concerns the ability of the jail system to reform prisoners. Without the ideal of reform the judicial system gets reduced to the thirst for punishment and revenge.
Let us not venture very far. A study conducted by the Academy of Prisons and Correctional Administration (APCA), Vellore on the invitation of the Goa government revealed several deficiencies in jails and lock-ups. As of September 20 the total number of prisoners was 542 against available accommodation of 355. However, this situation will change for the better when the Colvale central jail is completed in all aspects. The question is when?
The report also listed the sub-human conditions at sub-jail at Sada and judicial lock-up at Mapusa. In both cases prisoners were huddled together without proper ventilation and the number was beyond the authorised capacity. The conditions in the Mapusa judicial lock-up were even worse with inmates living in cramped conditions in sweltering heat. It was also pointed out that undertrials were languishing in jail for years due to delay in trials which is a violation of Supreme Court guidelines. The APCA also noted that although the sentence review board had been constituted, it had not met for over a year. Consequently, some women convicts who were serving life sentences, but had completed 14-year terms, were still awaiting review of their sentences.
Justice is not only about putting people behind bars. It is also about reforming them, providing proper living conditions and ensuring that sentence review meetings are held regularly. If a person is reformed then he or she deserves to be released. Secondly, if the rules permit remission of sentence for good behavior then the conduct of prisoners has to be monitored. If Mickky Pacheco can be granted remission of sentence, then the same yardstick should be used for the others as well.
The condition of jails and lock-ups need not be at the level of a hotel, but the bare minimum needs to be provided. For instance, when Churchill Alemao was arrested he requested to be transferred to Colvale central jail because the toilet facilities in Panaji were not adequate. Of course the general approach is to make prisoners suffer for their crime, but to treat them like animals is against the law and not becoming of civilised society.
Kiran Bedi, who served as Inspector General of Prisons of Tihar jail from 1993 to 1995 and had the privilege of visiting over 40 prisons around the world, said India leads the world in prison reforms even though our prisons are not as secure as those in the West. That is because the West believes in punishment, we believe in reform. The Goa government must take the APCA report seriously. It must improve living conditions and rejuvenate the sentence review board. Let’s not give up the ideal that people can change.
