CHENNAI: For children growing up with their mothers behind Tamil Nadu’s prison walls, life is carefully counted until they turn six. After that, the system stops counting.
The Prison Statistics India 2023 report released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) reveals that 18 woman prisoners in Tamil Nadu were living with 22 children as of December 31, 2023. Once these children reach the permitted age of six, they are handed over to relatives, guardians, or to the care of the Social Defence Department. What happens to them after that remains unrecorded.
Tamil Nadu operates five exclusive prisons for women, with a combined capacity of 2,018 inmates. The state accounts for nearly 1.4% of all woman prisoners in India living with children. However, there is no official mechanism to track these children once they leave prison.
An official from the Tamil Nadu Prison Department admitted that the existing process ends once a child is transferred. “Children are handed over to the Social Defence Department or to guardians chosen by their mothers once they turn six. If the child is placed with a guardian, enquiries are made only when the mother requests it on humanitarian grounds. Beyond that, there is no system to trace them,” the official said.
Officials from the Social Defence Department confirmed that the system lacks post-transfer monitoring. “District Child Protection Officers visit prisons to check on the care provided to children. We also monitor those in institutional homes under vulnerable categories. However, there is no system to track children handed over to guardians,” said an official source.
Although the Tamil Nadu Prison Rules, 2024, notified in November, include rehabilitation measures for released prisoners such as counselling, job assistance, and housing support, they make no mention of after-care for children who lived inside prisons.
Advocate K R Raja, co-founder of the Global Network for Equality, which works for the welfare of woman inmates and their children, described these children as the “invisible victims” of the criminal justice system. “When children are placed with guardians, their well-being often goes unchecked. Many may face neglect or even be pushed into labour,” he said.
According to the Policy Note (2025-26) of the Social Welfare and Women Empowerment Department, the government ensures rehabilitation, protection, and care for children whose parents are incarcerated. The note claims such children receive financial aid, education, and foster care support, with some housed in government and NGO-run institutions. It states that 22 children benefited in 2021-22, 20 in 2022-23, 41 in 2023-24, and 48 in 2024-25, with three placed in foster care.
However, Raja pointed out that the scheme has not yet been formalised through a Government Order (GO). “Only after the GO is issued will we know the eligibility criteria and detailed rules for foster care support. Even within this category, there appear to be filters, and the current data raises questions about how it was compiled,” he said.
Vijay Raghavan, Professor at the Centre for Criminology and Justice, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai, and former member of the Advisory Committee on Prison Reforms constituted by the Bureau of Police Research and Development, said the problem is not unique to Tamil Nadu but exists across India. He categorised prisoners’ children into four groups — those living inside prisons, in institutional care, coping alone, and those with relatives or guardians.
“Children of woman prisoners left outside face the most severe challenges — financial hardship, neglect, school dropout, stigma, psychological distress, and sometimes exploitation,” he said, calling for regular follow-up by District Child Protection Officers and through the union government’s Mission Vatsalya (After Care) scheme to bridge these systemic gaps.
Speaking at the recent National Conference on Human Rights of Prison Inmates, organised by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) at Vigyan Bhawan, Raghavan also recommended that the NCRB include data on prisoners’ children in future Prison Statistics India reports to ensure accountability and continuity of care.
