The proverbial hell

ACCORDING to a news-item in this newspaper, a female inmate of Kot Lakhpat Jail, Lahore, was running a brothel from inside the prison with the help of a cell phone and apparently with the connivance of jail officials. The story only provides a glimpse of the unlawful activities going on in the country’s prisons. The jammers installed at prisons appear to have been deliberately switched off to facilitate the operation of the pimp. Among the problems plaguing the prisons are over crowding, poor sanitary conditions, unhygienic food, lack of recreational facilities, drugs, torture, absence of legal assistance and errant officers. Another serious issue relates to juvenile offenders who in many cases end up as hardened criminals. Because of lack of sufficient detention centres, inmates are packed like sardines. According to a report, as many as 60,215 prisoners were locked up in just 32 jails in Punjab. There are reports that the provincial government is planning to build more prisons. One hopes the above problems do not afflict them and urgent reforms are introduced in the existing ones with a view re-educating the inmates, teaching them professional skills, so that once in the free world they can earn a living and become respectable citizens.