COVID-19 scare: Nellore prisoners unwilling to go on parole
By Newsmeter Network Published on 5 April 2020 5:36 AM GMT
Nellore: Though it sounds odd, it is a fact that the prisoners at the Nellore Central Jail are not willing to avail the Interim Bail (parole) facility fearing the adverse situation due to the lockdown, home-based quarantining and other restrictions kept in the state. Out of around 60 prisoners in the entire district, only 8 people have availed the parole facility till now.
Officials say that prisoners are not showing any interest in approaching their family members to follow official procedures and get bail for one month.
The Supreme Court had recently directed the State Governments and Union Territories to form high-level committees for regarding releasing convicts on Interim Bail for a month. These include convicts who have been imprisoned up to seven years or are awaiting trial for offences requiring a maximum sentence of seven years. The government plans on following this with an aim to decongest the jails during the COVID-19 outbreak.
The AP State Prisons Department has asked all the district jails and the sub jails to prepare a list of offenders committed offences under IPC 379 and 380. Those who have committed rapes, crimes against children and repeated crimes are not eligible for release on bail.
Authorities in the Nellore district have prepared a list of 58 prisoners for releasing them on interim bail. However, only eight have shown interest. They were 4 from Atmakur Sub Jail, 1 from Kavali, and 3 from the Nellore Central Jail.
Officials of the District Legal Services Authority also conducted a meet in the Central Jail and informed the inmates on the interim bail facility for one month as part of decongesting the jails during the crisis.
A senior official from the Central Jail said a majority of inmates have not expressed interest in the bail. They fear that they will have to face a difficult situation during the present crisis, and it is better to continue in prison.
Further, he added that this is due to the home quarantine that has been advised for 14 days.
