MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court recently directed the state home department to look into the feasibility of establishing children-friendly interview rooms in central prisons and special prisons for women in Tamil Nadu, in order to enable children of prisoners to meet their parents, who are incarcerated in either of the aforesaid facilities.
A bench of justices D Krishnakumar and R Vijayakumar gave the direction while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by one KR Raja of Madurai in 2016. Raja stated in his petition that the imprisonment of parents severely impacts the physical and mental health of children, and increases the chances of them developing criminal behaviour.
Helping children meet their parents in prison in a child-friendly environment would not only prevent criminal behaviour but also reduce the likelihood of recidivism among the incarcerated parents, Raja added.
He requested the Court to direct the government to allot necessary funds to build children-friendly interview rooms in prisons. To avoid intimidation of children, Raja suggested that the interview rooms have bright furnishings, toys and non-uniformed officers, among others.
Hearing the plea, the judges directed the home department to look into the feasibility of the petitioner’s proposal and file a status report in two weeks.