Byculla Jail COVID Outbreak: Over a Yr Since Pandemic, Prison Remains Congested

Lodged inside the only women and children's prison in the state of Maharashtra, an inmate in the same barrack as Elgar Parishad accused and retired professor Shoma Sen and her co-accused, Sudha Bharadwaj, tested positive for COVID-19 on 23 September. Image used for representational purposes. 

(Photo: Erum Gour/The Quint) 

Lodged inside the only women and children's prison in the state of Maharashtra, an inmate in the same barrack as Elgar Parishad accused and retired professor Shoma Sen and her co-accused, Sudha Bharadwaj, tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday, 23 September, The Hindu reported.

The fatal threat posed by the pandemic was previously accepted as a ground for bail. However, with a dip in cases in the state, this provision was rendered ineffectual.

A report by The Wire notes that out of the 60 central and district jails in the state, Byculla prison is the only dedicated one for women and their children, and while the jail's capacity is 200 persons, it remains invariably congested, with around 300 people.

On 17 September, inside an emergency ward in Mumbai, a local health post was made aware of a sharp ascent in the number of 'fever' cases inside the prison, The Wire reported on Tuesday, 28 September.

After two days, a medical camp was set up and three women in the prison were found to have contracted COVID-19. Data from subsequent camps indicated that 36 people, including children younger than 6 years of age. had contracted the virus, The Wire reported.

As a consequence of this, the Byculla prison was sealed. The emergency measure came even amid recent orders by the Supreme Court and Bombay High Court, which looked at the interest of the imprisoned in view of the health emergency in the state.

However, The Wire notes, very little has been done to protect and reduce the prison population.

NIA Court Rejects Sen's Bail Plea

61-year-old Sen, in her interim bail plea had submitted that her age and ailments, including hypertension and other blood pressure-related problems made her susceptible to coronavirus.

However, a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court rejected her plea last week and stated, 'COVID-19 cannot be used as a ground for a release anymore.'

Within two days, two prisoners in the same barrack as her had tested positive for the virus.

In a concerned statement, Sen's daughter Maaysha Singh, and her friends urged the top committee constituted to depopulate Maharashtrian prisons to look into the outbreak seriously and take necessary measures, The Wire reported.

“We urge all concerned to take necessary precaution of all senior and political prisoners of Bhima Koregaon (Elgar Parishad) to avert anything untoward. They have spent two-thirds of their lives working and contributing towards better living conditions for the marginalised, including ensuring justice to them within the constitutional framework. Their precious life must be safeguarded within the constitutional guarantee of the right to life under Article 21."

COVID-19 Continues to be Mismanaged Inside Prisons

In the aftermath of the second wave's peak, the Bombay High Court had suo motu decided to look into the condition of prisons in the state. Senior lawyer Mihir Desai was appointed as an amicus curie.

Then, the state had listed measures to control the ravaging outbreak and suggested to set up quarantine centres inside and outside the jail premises. Around Byculla, Patanwala municipal school in Mazgaon currently hosts the women and their children who have tested positive.

While they are labelled 'COVID-19 care centres', the conditions inside paint a different picture.

One of the infected last week was moved to this centre. However, her lawyer told The Wire, “You need a clean, hygienic space with enough sunlight and air. The women have been struggling for space and peace inside."

From the 16 people arrested in connection with the Elgar Parishad case, seven have contracted the fatal virus in the last year and a half. This year, one of the undertrial, 84-year-old Father Stan Swamy, passed away awaiting medical treatment.

(With inputs from The Wire and The Hindu)