Depressed detainees pose problems for jail authorities

Statesman News Service

MALDA, Jan. 4: Jail authorities are in trouble over the provision of emergency treatment for the newly come under-trials who suffer from mental depression due to lack of basic infrastructure in the jail premises. Sometimes, particularly at night, the jail authorities face problems to tackle ‘mentally challenged’ under trials because there is no medical team on duty inside the jail. To send them to a general hospital is even more difficult as the jail authorities face problems due to the absence of police escort. According to government orders, jail authorities need police escort, but there is no standby police force at night for this purpose. It takes a long time to get police escort during the night, when a prisoner suffers from acute health disorder. “In order to avoid custodial death, we take risks and send the under-trials to the hospital without police force," said the superintendent of jail. Though it is very difficult for us to judge whether they are truly ill or are just acting on the pretext of escaping, yet we have to take the risk with the help of the jail guard, so that the human rights commission cannot blame us for custodial deaths," said Mr CR Ghorai, the superintendent of Malda jail. According to the jail authorities, almost all district jails are facing such problems. The jail authorities face problems to conduct pathological tests of the under-trials in the hospital, according to the prescription of the government doctors. In most cases, doctors prescribe immediate ECG tests and other pathological tests which are very costly, and during the night such facilities are not available in government district hospital. The jail authorities spend money out of its accounts to get report of pathological tests from the private organisations and submit bills later on to the authorities for sanctioning. The jail officials face problems when doctors prescribe MRI test for an under -trial. The officials need to get permission from the court and the inspector general to send him to either Siliguri or Kolkata. But it takes time and is a costly process.