TAKING up the cause of senior citizens lodged in the city’s Model Jail, the Uttar Pradesh Social Welfare Board has forwarded a mercy petition to the Governor asking him to release all the prisoners who are over 60 years old.
While there are no male prisoners in this age bracket, there are 11 female inmates who are over 60 years old.
‘‘Most of the prisoners who are 60 years and above have been abandoned by their families,’’ said Anjana Prakash, president of the State Social Welfare Board, adding that they were all undergoing mental trauma.
According to Prakash, the Social Welfare Board runs several types of rehabilitation programmes for prisoners. Stating that she visited the Model Jail on July 20, Prakash added: ‘‘It was heart-rending when I met the women prisoners. They have lost all hope of being released and prefer to live in seclusion’’.
This is not the first time that reprieve has been sought for elderly prisoners. Earlier, a Government Order issued on January 25, 2000, ordered the release old prisoners.
‘‘As per that order, all male prisoners aged 60 years or above, who had completed at least three years of their prison term, would be freed,’’ informed senior jail superintendent Suresh Chandra. For women jail inmates, the age was relaxed to 50 years.
But when a prisoner freed under that Government Order, Mirza Mohammad Hussain, was caught in a shootout in Meerut in which 11 people were killed, the Allahabad High Court, on September 29, 2001, annulled the GO and ordered the police to re-arrest all the senior citizens who had been freed. Hussain is lodged in Agra Jail at present.
According to Prakash, there are 12 children living with their mothers who are prisoners inside the Model Jail.