STAFF REPORTER GUWAHATI:
Children in Assam Jail: The Gauhati High Court has sought details of children staying in prisons in the State. The High Court asked for the details while hearing a suo moto PIL (4/2020).
On April 29, the High Court sought details of inmates staying in prisons in the State. The Court also wanted to know as to how many of the inmates have been infected by the coronavirus and also about the measures the jail authorities have taken to take care of such patients/jail inmates.
On April 30, 2021, the Inspector General of Prisons, Assam submitted details of prison inmates in the State and measures taken.
During the hearing of the PIL on May 6, the Bench comprising Chief Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Manash Ranjan Pathak said, "Certain details have been provided by the counsel as to the number of inmates in various jails in Assam. We've noticed that out of a total of 1,303 inmates in Central Jail, Guwahati, four are children and there are children in other jails as well such as Tezpur, Silchar, Nagaon, Kokrajhar, Goalpara, Hailakandi, Karimganj, North Lakhimpur, Sivasagar, Dhemaji, Udalguri and Special Jail in Nagaon. We would like to get the details from the jail authorities as to these children."
According to sources, here is the number of children in assam different jails as given here...
| Assam Jail Name | No. of Children in Jail |
Tezpur Central Jail | 3 |
Silchar Central jail | 13 |
Nagaon Central jail | 1 |
Kokrajhar District Jail | 5 |
Goalpara District Jail | 1 |
Hailakandi District Jail | 2 |
Karimganj District Jail | 6 |
North Lakhimpur District Jail | 2 |
Sivasagar District Jail | 2 |
Dhemaji District Jail | 2 |
Morigaon District Jail | 2 |
Udalguri District Jail | 1 |
Nagaon Special Jail | 2 |
Whereas, till May 9, 2021, there are 48 children in the assam jails – 24 boys and as many girls. The number of total inmates in the jails in the State is 9,315.