Kin of SIMI suspects in Bhopal jail accuse officials of harassment

THE FAMILIES ALLEGED THAT THE INMATES WERE NOT ALLOWED TO MEET THEIR LAWYERS DUE TO WHICH THE TRIAL HAS DRAGGED ON

Families of suspected members of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) lodged in Bhopal Central jail have complained to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) that the inmates were being “humiliated physically assaulted and denied medical treatment” — charges which the jail authorities have rubbished.

Out of a total of 29 suspected SIMI men who were lodged in Bhopal jail since 2013, eight were killed in October 2016, allegedly in an encounter after escaping from prison. The encounter is now under probe.

The kin of four of the 21 inmates — Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Javed, Mohammad Adil and Mohammad Zubair — all from Ujjain district of Madhya Pradesh, claimed that the harassment for these prisoners started after the encounter.

“We are writing to you to express grave concern and seek immediate intervention of the Hon’ble Commission in the cases of custodial torture and human rights violations of the 21 undertrial (UT) prisoners in Bhopal Jail. Several instances of torture and inhuman treatment have been reported to have been meted out to them since October 31, 2016, when eight other UTs were killed in an encounter,” read the application to the NHRC.

The application on behalf of the families was signed by social activists, Kavita Srivastava and ND Pancholi of People’s Union of Civil Liberties, Manisha Sethi of Jamia Teachers’ Solidarity Association, Mathew Jacob of People’s Watch among others. The families alleged that the inmates are not allowed to meet their lawyers due to which the trial has dragged on. Director general (DG) of jails Sanjay Chaudhary refused to comment on the allegations but said, “We will respond to all the allegations in a proper manner when asked by the National Human Rights Commission.”