3-member panel to assess mental health of prisoners
Bhubaneswar: The state government has constituted a three-member expert committee to find out condition of inmates suffering from psychiatric ailments and status of suicides in jails. The home department has formed the committee following a recent order by Odisha human rights commission (OHRC) chairperson Justice Bimala Prasad Das.
Chief probation officer of the prisons directorate, vice-principal of Odisha jail training school in Berhampur and psychiatrist of Choudwar circle jail are members of the expert committee. “We will ensure that the expert committees observations are put into action. We will also regularly update the OHRC about the committee’s finding,” DGP (prisons) Santosh Upadhyay said.
According to the national crime records bureau (NCRB), at least 677 mentally-ill prisoners were lodged in total 86 jails in the state in 2018. Number of such inmates was 787 in 2017. NCRB said most of the mentally-ill inmates were convicts, who suffered the ailments after languishing several years in jails.
Suicide inside jails is not alarming. A source in the state prisons directorate said total four inmates had committed suicides in the state in 2019. While no suicide was reported in jails in 2018, two and three inmates had ended their lives in 2017 and 2016, respectively.
The OHRC recently sought a report from the prisons directorate to know about the condition of mentally-ill inmates. “We directed the prisons directorate to conduct regular counselling sessions among prisoners through experts. Entertainment, spiritual and devotional programmes should be organised for mental peace of the prisoners,” an OHRC official said.
The rights panel also asked the prisons officials to arrange free legal assistance for those, who cannot afford to hire lawyers. “We apprehend that many inmates suffered mental illness as they spent so many months in jails. Their frustration for not being able to arrange lawyers to get bail could be a strong reason of their mental illness. We asked the prisons authorities to regularly conduct health check-up of the inmates. Their food and hygiene should also be taken care,” the official said.