Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Nearly 110 children below six years of age are currently living inside Madhya Pradesh jails with their imprisoned mothers, spending their early years within prison premises.
Legal experts said that many women prisoners are unable to approach higher courts for bail due to financial and legal constraints, unlike suspended SDOP Pooja Pandey, who recently secured bail from the Supreme Court.
Children below six are permitted to stay with imprisoned mothers under jail rules.
The court while granting bail stated, "the petitioner being a single mother with a child of 2-3 years old and there being no likelihood of absconding from the trial proceedings, the instant petition is disposed of and the petitioner is directed to be released on bail subject to her furnishing bail bonds to the satisfaction of the jurisdictional Court.” women Madhya Pradesh has around 1,600 prisoners and nearly 42,000 male prisoners. In Bhopal emotional and practical difficulty of balancing prison duties with motherhood.
Proposal for open jail for women prisoners
Director General of Correctional Services Varun Kapoor said a proposal is pending with the state government seeking permission to keep women prisoners in open jails along with their family members.
In Bhopal Central Jail, there are currently 191 women prisoners. Among them, 102 have been convicted, while 88, including four foreign nationals, are undertrials.
These women prisoners have 12 children below six years of age living with them inside the jail premises. Under jail manual provisions, children below six years are permitted to stay with their mothers. Within the high walls of prisons, these children live, play and study at play schools set up by the jail administration. However, they remain deprived of regular interaction with their fathers and other family members.
Responsibility versus motherly care
Every prisoner inside the jail is assigned work, including technical training or other responsibilities. Jail officials said mothers often find it difficult to balance assigned work with childcare responsibilities. Officials said the challenge is not conflict with jail staff, but the emotional and practical difficulty of balancing prison duties with motherhood.
Sunday reunions & special meals for children
Sunday reunions and special diet for the children and parents lodged in jail. The jail administration has fixed Sunday for family meetings, when fathers who are also imprisoned are allowed to meet their wives and children. During the meeting, they can bring sweets or fruits from the can- teen and spend around half an hour together. Deputy Superintend- ent of Jail MS Maravi said special meals are provided to children living with their mothers."They are served milk, fruits, kheer, halwa and other nutritious food items," he said.
