Times of India: Delhi: Monday, 13 May 2024.
At least 9,681 children below 18 years were wrongly incarcerated in adult prisons between Jan 2016 and Dec 2021, and an average of more than 1,600 children were transferred to childcare institutions every year, according to the findings released as part of a first-of-its-kind RTI-based national study of data collected from prisons across states.
The findings were released at a panel discussion in the Capital by Rashmi, who is now an adult but was 17 in 2018 when she was sent to an adult jail with her age allegedly recorded by police as 19 even as she protested. After languishing in prison for nearly six years, she is finally out on bail with the support of lawyers from iProbono.
As per the law, a child alleged to have committed or found guilty of an offence has to be placed in an observation home or a special home and cannot be sent to a adult prison. At the launch, former SC judge, Justice S Ravindra Bhat asserted the need for holding the state accountable by making way for stringent monetary compensation provisions.
According to Gitanjali Prasad, the lead author of the study, the objective was to demand greater accountability and so RTIs were addressed between April 2022-March 2023 to prison headquarters in 28 states and two UTs. “The overall response rate of 50% underscores the fact that there are major lapses by state prison departments in fulfilling their voluntary disclosure obligations under the RTI Act.”
At least 9,681 children below 18 years were wrongly incarcerated in adult prisons between Jan 2016 and Dec 2021, and an average of more than 1,600 children were transferred to childcare institutions every year, according to the findings released as part of a first-of-its-kind RTI-based national study of data collected from prisons across states.
The findings were released at a panel discussion in the Capital by Rashmi, who is now an adult but was 17 in 2018 when she was sent to an adult jail with her age allegedly recorded by police as 19 even as she protested. After languishing in prison for nearly six years, she is finally out on bail with the support of lawyers from iProbono.
As per the law, a child alleged to have committed or found guilty of an offence has to be placed in an observation home or a special home and cannot be sent to a adult prison. At the launch, former SC judge, Justice S Ravindra Bhat asserted the need for holding the state accountable by making way for stringent monetary compensation provisions.
According to Gitanjali Prasad, the lead author of the study, the objective was to demand greater accountability and so RTIs were addressed between April 2022-March 2023 to prison headquarters in 28 states and two UTs. “The overall response rate of 50% underscores the fact that there are major lapses by state prison departments in fulfilling their voluntary disclosure obligations under the RTI Act.”
.JPG)
.JPG)
