A report submitted in the Supreme Court by amicus curiae, senior advocate Gaurav Agarwal, has belied reports that women inmates in West Bengal jails are getting pregnant in custody.
The Supreme Court had, a few days ago, taken suo motu cognisance of the issue. Previously, the Calcutta High Court had raised serious concerns when the issue was mentioned in a case linked to prison reforms.
In a five-page report submitted in the top court, Mr. Agrawal said he had made enquiries via email to the ADG & IG Correctional Services, West Bengal.
The senior police officer replied on February 10 that 62 children were born in jails in West Bengal during the last four years. The women inmates were either pregnant when they were brought to the jails or had gone out on parole and were pregnant when they returned.
Mr. Agrawal said he had also held discussions with jail authorities in Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi to understand security measures in women jails and barracks. He found that these complexes were guarded by women personnel.
Prior check-up
The amicus, however, highlighted the need for a complete security audit of women jails and barracks in the country. He said there was also a need to examine the medical facility available to women inmates to ensure that proper examinations were held at the time of admissions and at regular intervals.
He recommended a team of the seniormost women judicial officers and police officers in districts of West Bengal to assess the security measures, sufficiency of security personnel and availability of regular health check-ups for women prisoners.
Mr. Agrawal also found it advisable to have a woman member of the Child Welfare Committee to be associated with women jails and barracks where there are children. The recommendations could be placed before the Chief Secretary of the State, who could file an action taken report in the Supreme Court.
