Covid spread in ‘empty’ women’s cell takes Tihar admin by surprise
At least 57 of 444 women lodged in Tihar jail have tested positive for Covid-19; of the total, 49 are currently active cases
At least 57 of the 444 women prisoners lodged in the women’s jail in Tihar have tested Covid-positive in the last one month, according to prison officers privy to the development who added that the spread of the infection was far quicker than seen in jails holding male prisoners.
Sub-jail number 6 holds only women prisoners and is far less populated than the barracks and jails meant for men. While jail number 6 has just 444 inmates, a men’s jail like sub jail number 1 has over 2,000 prisoners. Other jails have around 1,000-1,300 inmates.
The officers quoted above also said that of the five prisoners
NEW DELHI:
who died of the infection last week, one was a woman inmate -- Kahkashan, 41; she died on Aprl 29 -- who was admitted to the GTB hospital.
Currently there are 49 active cases in the women’s jail, the officers said.
There are 16 sub jails under Tihar prisons where nearly 20,500 prisoners are currently lodged. Prison officers said that there are 253 active cases in the prisons system at the moment.
Besides 49 women, 204 male prisoners lodged in 16 different jails at Tihar, Rohini and Mandoli campuses have got the infection.
There is only one jail for women at the Tihar campus.
An officer, who asked not to be named, said, “For some reason, the infection spread rapidly in jail number 6 (women’s jail). We have created a Covid-19 ward inside the women’s jail. Any women prisoner who shows symptoms are not only quarantined or isolated but their health is also monitored at a special ward that has been set up inside jail 6. There are oxygen cylinders too in case of any emergency. Still if anyone is critical, we immediately refer them to hospital.”
Last week, the prison administration stopped sending new prisoners directly to jail number 6. Unlike male prisoners who are isolated or put in quarantine within the same complex for at least 14 days, the new women prisoners are first sent to Mandoli jail for 14 days before being brought to Tihar. At Mandoli campus, too, in the last one month, 12 women prisoners have tested positive but many of them recovered or were released after treatment. There are only two active cases of infection in the women’s cell at Mandoli.
The prison administration wrote to the Delhi government last week to consider releasing prisoners on parole and special bail, like last year when over 6,000 inmates were released after the pandemic broke out in March.
The jail officials said it was important to decongest the prison since there were almost double the number of inmates inside Tihar than the jail’s capacity.
Delhi government officials said they were looking into the request.
Until April 6, the jail had only 19 cases of Covid-19 among prisoners. In fact in February, there was not a single active case, as the overall positivity rate for Covid-19 in Delhi dropped to 0.17%.
As Delhi is going through the fourth wave of the infection now, the positivity rate is hovering around 30%. In February, not a single member of the jail staff was infected.
With over 20,500 prisoners at the moment, Tihar holds the highest number of inmates in its history. Experts such as former law officer Sunil Gupta and Ajay Verma have suggested that the government either set up temporary jails in school buildings or release some prisoners who are not a threat.
In March last year, the 6,000 prisoners who were released to decongest the prison surrendered over February and March this year to complete their sentences after remaining outside the jail for nearly 11 months.