Relatives of SIMI undertrials lodged in Bhopal Central Jail have complained to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) that the inmates were being tortured and denied adequate food and water since the alleged “encounter” of eight undertrials last year. The families of four of the undertrials approached the NHRC Wednesday and submitted a memorandum, seeking “immediate intervention of the Hon’ble Commission in the cases of custodial torture and human rights violations of the 21 undertrial (UT) prisoners in Bhopal Jail.”
The memorandum added: “Several instances of torture and inhuman treatment have been reported to have been meted out to them since October 31, 2016, when eight other UTs were killed in an encounter.” Madhuri, from People’s Union for Civil Liberties (Madhya Pradesh), who accompanied the families to Delhi alleged, “The undertrials are given one bottle of water for the whole day. And not enough food.”
Stating that many of the undertrials had head injuries and fractures when they appeared before relatives and in court through video conferencing, she said, “Three of the prisoners who were seriously injured have even deposed in the court in their ongoing trial, but no independent investigation has happened.” Mohammad Irfan, brother of undertrial Mohammad Adil alleged, “Earlier, we could meet him for 20 minutes twice a week. But for many months now, they have been allowing us only five minutes under strict watch.”
Jail superintendent Dinesh Nargave denied the allegations and said the relatives of the undertrials were trying to pressure the jail administration after “their illegal demands were turned down’’. He said the undertrials had demanded that they be allowed to offer namaz together, “which is not possible”. “They are getting same facilities as enjoyed by other undertrials and as mentioned in jail manual. They are complaining because after the jailbreak, security measures have been tightened,” he said, adding that the SIMI undertrials wanted special treatment, like access to home food. Of the 29 SIMI undertrials lodged in Bhopal jail since 2013, eight were killed in October last year in an alleged encounter after a jailbreak.
