TRAGICALLY, a total of 172 children don’t have a crime of their own but are languishing in prisons only because of circumstance. The reason they are in jail is because their mothers were convicted in one crime or another. These children are rotting behind bars with their mothers under the district’s nine prisons, according to Chattogram Deputy Inspector General, prison office.
Jail authorities say in spite of their limitations, they’re trying to provide as much as they can for the children growing up under their supervision. They said children are being given primary education, healthy meals and other amenities so that they feel as close to home as possible. However, other sources claimed there’s no playground, no schooling, no sharing or caring, nor the love of their beloved families. Rather, the children’s days are spent around notorious criminals and convicted prisoners. Inside the four walls, they are simply rotting. The children are not even aware that there’s a world beyond their repressive spaces.
Chattogram Central Jail data shows that there are 63 children living in its prison, while 64 in Cox’s Bazar, two in Khagrachhari, one in Bandarban, 16 in Cumilla, 10 in Brahmanbaria, three in Chandpur, 10 in Noakhali and three in Feni jail. According to data Chattogram-range prison office received in February, 851 women are now in jail. Apart from that, six are waiting for their execution.
Reportedly, the hygiene condition inside the jail is terrible. One cannot have what we call toilets inside the jail. There is a tub attached to every ward where prisoners have to urinate or defecate. Those tubs would overflow with human waste in no time and all of it would be smeared across the jail floor. The Nutritional condition of the prisoners is also equally dreadful. However, bribery brings the solution here too, says a former prisoner.
Criminologists and experts say, the prisoners and the convicts inside the prisons are treated inhumanely and have no human rights. We must change this mindset. We should realise that the purpose of a prison is to rehabilitate the convicts not to punish them. After experiencing the terrible environment and getting in touch with the imprisoned criminals, even many of the children get involved with the underground world. They come out as reckless criminals. If we can’t change our mindset and fail to rehabilitate these helpless children, social unrest will inevitably increase and it is us who will ultimately have to pay the price.
