DT Next Exposé: For convicts, even basic rights come at a price, says lifer

CHENNAI: Be it allowing access to decent food or issuing toiletries at jacked-up prices, the prison authorities run a parallel economy inside the four walls, attest inmates of the convicts’ block in Puzhal Central Prison.

“Neither the quality nor the quantity of the food provided to inmates matches the standards prescribed by the government. And if an inmate craves for some decent food, s/he has no other option but to buy through PCP (Prisoners Cash Property),” said M Senthamizhan alias Karuna, an inmate of Puzhal prison.

On October 8, Karuna sat in protest, blaming the prison authorities for the suicide of another life convict, Gajendran, and protesting the lack of basic facilities inside the prison.

“The prisoners are made to live in inhuman conditions and there is no scope for psychological counselling for them despite prison rules mandating the same. The authorities run their own fiefdom,” Karuna told DT Next outside a magistrate court in Chennai where he came for a hearing in a case.

They do not allow inmates to wear slippers and force them to buy basic slippers for as high as Rs 400, claimed Karuna and added that about 28 inmates are clubbed together in a cell, which should be holding only half the number.

Karuna, who has spent time previously in Cuddalore prison, is a model prisoner by most metrics and has completed more than 10 vocational courses during his prison years. “In all these months in Puzhal, the authorities do not facilitate the pursuance of such vocational courses,” Karuna told DT Next.

His son, Tamizh Prabhakaran, an advocate, said his father had appealed to senior officials in the prison department too, and they have been sympathetic to his cause. “They refer to him as a prison advocate. If the officials check the Gpay transactions of some prison authorities, they are sure to find the dirty money trail,” Tamizh Prabhakaran said.

On asked whether he was not worried about opening up against prison officials, Karuna said he has spent more than 20 years in prison and has nothing to lose.

Early this year, Karuna was acquitted in an attempt to murder case registered 21 years ago by the Chromepet police after the complainant deposed in open court that he was paid Rs 5,000 by the police to implicate Karuna wrongfully. Karuna has been convicted in a murder case and is awaiting release as he has spent over 20 years in prison.