Rape accused triggers Covid scare in Tihar jail

The officials said all jail superintendents have been asked to watch for symptoms in prisoners or jail staff. So far, Tihar has not reported any Covid positive case.

A man lodged in Tihar jail since Friday for allegedly raping a woman -- investigations are ongoing -- was tested for the coronavirus disease on Sunday after she tested positive during the routine medical examination.

Tihar houses at least 18,000 prisoners and it is the most crowded prison complex in the country. (Biplov Bhuyan/HT PHOTO)

Two other inmates of the prison who came in touch with him were also tested.

All three tested negative.

Officials at the Tihar Prison Complex went into a tizzy Sunday when they were informed by Delhi Police about the woman testing positive. The man was isolated; and two others who had come in touch with him were quarantined. An alert was sounded in the complex.

The three prisoners were tested on Sunday and were found negative, officials said , adding the alert in still in effect.

The officials said all jail superintendents have been asked to watch for symptoms in prisoners or jail staff. So far, Tihar has not reported any Covid positive case.

Tihar houses at least 18,000 prisoners and it is the most crowded prison complex in the country. In Mumbai’s Arthur Road jail where 4,000 prisoners are lodged, within a week of one prisoner contracting the virus, the infection has spread to 184 prisoners and prison staff.

Tihar’s additional inspector general Raj Kumar said: “The police sent the rape survivor for the mandatory medical examination. When she tested positive for Covid-19, they alerted us. The rape accused was already in a separate ward for new prisoners. Ever since the breakout of the pandemic, all new inmates are kept in a separate, isolated section for 14 days before being shifted to barracks. The other two prisoners who had come into contact with the accused have also been tested. There is no cause for panic because they were in isolation.”

With a spurt in crime cases since last week after the government relaxed norms of the lockdown, the number of new prisoners has also increased. This has prompted jail authorities to use sub-jail 2 as an isolation ward for new inmates. There are 14 jails inside Tihar.

According to prison records, last Monday(May 3), 32 new inmates were brought to Tihar; 35 were brought to the prison on Tuesday; and 64 on Wednesday. Between March 25 and May 2, when the complete lockdown was in effect, only 13 new prisoners were being brought in every day on average, said senior jail officials. On some days in April, the prison received only five prisoners.

To ensure social distancing and prevent the spread of infection inside the prison, family visits were suspended a week before the nationwide lockdown started on March 25.The prison department also released 2,177 inmates awaiting trial on interim bail on the orders of a court for 90 days; and 1,056 convicts have been released on emergency parole for eight weeks.

Sunil Gupta who worked in Tihar jail as a law officer for around three decades, said it is important to keep the jail Covid free, given the large population of inmates in an enclosed space, which makes containment could be a nightmare. “ The prison officers have to be on alert. We have enough cells inside the prison. They must use the cells as isolation wards.”