Authorities at Bhopal Central Jail “mentally and physically tortured” suspected members of the banned Students of Islamic Movement of India outfit in prison for months, the National Human Rights Commission has found.
After eight jailed members of their outfit escaped in October 2016, the prisoners were denied access to food from the jail canteen, which affected their health, the human rights body found. They were also allegedly denied adequate sleep, were kept in solitary confinement, and were made to chant slogans such as “Jai Shri Ram”. Authorities also allegedly threw away their copies of the Quran, according to a report in The Indian Express.
The panel has recommended action against jail authorities for the torture and against a jail doctor for withholding information on how the prisoners got injuries. In its report, the NHRC also called for a high-level investigation into the allegations made by prisoners.
The report was based on findings the NHRC made on two visits to the prison last year to investigate complaints of human rights violations. Their 24-page report, based on interviews with prisoners, their family members, jail authorities, lawyers and social activists, has become available only now.
Twenty of these members are still under trial, while one has been convicted.
Director General (prisons) Sanjay Chaudhary said the jail authorities had denied all the allegations, and said the NHRC’s report was “one-sided”. “We submitted a point-to-point rebuttal of its first report in January 2018,” he told the Hindustan Times. “The matter is pending before the NHRC.”
The surveillance of the prisoners increased significantly after the jailbreak on October 31, 2016. The prisoners who escaped were shot dead later that day in an encounter in Eintkhedi village. The Madhya Pradesh government was criticised for its handling of the jailbreak and the encounter.
Several investigations have been ordered into the jailbreak, as well as the encounter, including a judicial probe into how the SIMI men were killed.
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