KOCHI: The topic of prisoners’ human rights has always been a contentious one. Even as frequent outcries are heard to ensure their rights, 17 prisoners sentenced to capital punishment have been languishing in the three central prisons - at Thiruvananthapuram, Kannur and Viyyur - for long, one of whom has been here for 10 years.
All the three central prisons of Kerala are overcrowded, with one of them now functioning at 186% of its sanctioned capacity, says information obtained under the Right To Information Act. While the Thiruvananthapuram Central Prison and Correctional Home has a capacity of 727, it has more than double the capacity accommodated here - 1,355.
Similarly, the Viyyur prison has 822 inmates, against a sanctioned strength of 520. The Kannur Central prison can accommodate a maximum of 840 prisoners, while as on April 1, the number of prisoners here is 981, says the information collected by M K Haridas of The Proper Channel.
As per the info, the Poojappura Central Jail has a total of 9 prisoners sentenced to death. One of them, now aged 51, was given the punishment in 2009. The remaining, most of them now in their late 30s or mid-40s, have been awaiting death for at least a couple of years.
In Kannur jail, there are three prisoners - one of them aged 51 and two others 54 now - waiting for the death awarded in 2013, 2012 and 2015. In Viyyur jail, there are five prisoners who were sentenced to capital punishment. One of them was given death sentence at the age of 23 in 2017. Though there have been debates and demands opposing capital punishment, the prisoners’ human rights are often neglected, Haridas says.
“Going to bed and waking up with menacing thoughts of impending death would be painful for anyone. Wouldn’t that fall under the purview of human rights? Shouldn’t the common principle of ‘justice delayed is justice denied’ be applicable to these prisoners too, who have been waiting for death for long,” asks Haridas.
However former jail DGP Alexander Jacob begs to differ. Capital punishment is awarded only in the ‘rarest of the rare’ cases, wherein pre-meditated murder has been proved. Of around 335-350 murders that are reported every year, only very few are awarded capital punishment.
Seeking exemption for them before the judicial process is completed would not be appropriate, he said.
“As per the Supreme Court directive, exemptions are given to those who have been serving sentence for over 20 years. We should let the judicial process reach completion, what with appeals before the SC, mercy petitions before the President and so on. It’s inappropriate to talk about their human rights, even before the judicial process is over,” he said.