Banke prison in suffocating condition

By Siraj Khan,Nepalgunj, Apr. 14: Nepalgunj is one of the hottest places in the country. Even with a fan or an air conditioner switched on, people there find it suffocating to stay in large rooms amid scorching heat. 

However, during an inspection of the Banke Prison by human rights activists, it was found that the prisoners were squeezed in small rooms.

A team of activists representing several groups and organisations working in Banke had inspected the prison.

"The prison has a capacity to accommodate only 350 prisoners. However, there were 839 prisoners living in an extremely congested manner," said Advocate Basanta Gautam, Lumbini Province coordinator for Advocacy Forum.

The prison had relocated women prisoners to Bardiya earlier, following which only men are kept in the two prison blocks – 617 in Block A and 232 in Block B – in Banke. 

Gautam, who is also the leader of the inspection team, said that the way the prisoners were kept was a direct and clear violation of their human rights.

The group of activists had also discussed the problem and its possible solutions with Jailor Arjun Jung Shah and prisoners.

"The prisoners shared their difficulties living in a compact place. Some were also suffering from skin diseases," said Prabhat Kumar Thakuri, central committee member of Human Rights Alliance.

While there is a lack of enough rooms to accommodate the growing number of prisoners in the Banke Prison, a regional prison with a capacity of 3,000 prisoners, which has already been constructed on nine bighas of land in Banke's Naubasta, has not been brought into operation yet.

"The Finance Ministry has halted the budget for the regional prison, keeping it from coming into operation," said Jailor Shah, adding, "If the regional prison could be used, the problems of congestion would end."