After hunger strike, prisoners in Bihar allowed to meet kin, get outside food

According to sources, more than 2,000 prisoners had written a letter to inspector general (prisons) Mithilesh Mishra before Durga Puja, requesting for resumption of physical mulaqats (meetings) in jail and had threatened to go on hunger strike from October 28 if their demands were not met

PATNA After a long wait of 18 months, family members can now meet prisoners in various jails across in Bihar.

Beur Central Jail in Patna. (HT PHOTO)

The state’s prison department has decided to resume physical “family-inmate” meetings in jails after hundreds of inmates of Beur central jail went on a hunger strike from Thursday morning.

However, they would be required to take all precautionary measures against the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to the suspension of such physical meetings on March 22, 2020.

According to sources, more than 2,000 prisoners had written a letter to inspector general (prisons) Mithilesh Mishra before Durga Puja, requesting for resumption of physical mulaqats (meetings) in jail and had threatened to go on hunger strike from October 28 if their demands were not met.

On Thursday, hundreds of prisoners, including 50 Maoists, went on hunger strike to press their demand of resumption of physical meetings with their family members and permission for outside food, as was the norm before outbreak of Covid. The agitated prisoners alleged they could not even talk privately with their spouses during e-mulaquat system.

During the pandemic, family members were allowed to speak to inmates through video calls via a system called e-Mulaquat, introduced last year by the Bihar government. Prisoners are allowed “e-mulaqat” with family members thrice a month for 15 minutes each.

However, several inmates complained of long waiting hours and denial of permission to their family members despite having registered themselves with valid IDs.

A jail official, on the condition of anonymity, said prisoners often suffered mentally and psychologically because of long incarceration pending trial. “These problems aggravated during the pandemic. These physical meetings, where they can see their family members and advocates will help them feel better,” he said.

The total capacity of prisons in Bihar is 46,669, while the number of inmates had gone past 72,823 till August 30, as per official data.

In Patna’s Beur Model Prison, the number of inmates has reached 5,110 against its capacity of 2,360.