New Prison Manual: Ensure Death Row Convicts’ Meeting With Family

Government of India has rolled out a prison manual to will ensure last meeting of death row convicts and families.

Representational image of a prison. (Photo: iStockphoto)

The new prison manual released by the government of India will ensure a final meeting between death row convicts and their families before execution.

The manual will also ensure legal aid at all stages even after rejection of mercy petitions.

The provision pertaining to the last meeting with the convict’s family have been incorporated in new Chapter XII (Chapter XI of the 2003 Manual).

The correctional measure has come after the flak faced by the government for not informing the family members of Afzal Guru, the 2000 Parliament attack convict, before he was hanged.

Afzal Guru was hanged in February 2013 in Delhi. (Photo: Reuters)

Guru was hanged in Delhi’s Tihar jail on the morning of 9 February 2013.

The 32-chapter long new manual has following provisions in it:

• Legal aid to prisoners sentenced to death at all stages, even after rejection of mercy petitions.
  
• Allowing and facilitating a final meeting between a prisoner and his family.
  
• Procedure and channels through which mercy petitions are to be submitted.
  
• Communication of rejection of mercy petitions and furnishing necessary documents, such as court papers, judgements, to the prisoners.
  
• Regular mental health evaluation for death row prisoners.
  
• Physical and mental health reports to certify that the prisoner is fit.
  

The Ministry of Home Affairs has released a statement listing the various changes.

Provisions For Women Prisoners

The Home Ministry has also made additional provisions for the safety and health of women prisoners and their reformation.

Representational image of women in prison. (Photo: iStockphoto)

The provisions for women prisoners, according to the statement, have been made with the women prisoners’ health in focus.

• Comprehensive health screening for women prisoners including:
  

• Tests to determine presence of sexually transmitted or blood-borne diseases
  
• Mental health concerns.
  
• Existence of drug dependency.
• Focused after-care and rehabilitation measures to ease women’s re-integration into society.
  
• Restrictions on certain kinds of punishments being awarded to women like no closed-confinement punishment to pregnant women or women with infants.
• Counselling programmes focused on women, especially abuse victims.
  

The focus of these provisions will be on removing any further damage that imprisonment may have on a female inmate.

This is drawn from the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Female Prisoners and Non-Custodial Measures for Women Offenders adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (UN Bangkok Rules).

(With inputs from PTI.)