Jailed upbringing: Some infants have no choice but to call prison home

At an age when the brain is developing more than ever, some young children are confined to prison cells instead of living a normal life - due to no fault of their own. Infants, below the age of 6, whose mothers have committed crimes and have no one to take care of them, have no choice but to spend their formative years behind bars.

According to data obtained by The Express Tribune from the provincial home department, 91 out of the 927 women in Punjab’s prisons, are mothers whose children are being brought up in prisons - 67 of these women are under-trial prisoners, 23 are convicted of various offences including theft and robbery, and 1 is on death row.

The data further reveals that there are a total of 105 children - 52 boys and 53 girls - in 43 different jails across Punjab. Presently, the highest population of infants living with their mothers in jails is in Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi, which houses 33 children, followed by Women Jail Multan which is home to 13 children, and in third place is Central Jail Gujranwala which is home to 12 children.

Amongst the 91 mothers behind bars is Sakina, a prisoner at Kot Lakhpat Jail. “My husband used to beat me every day. Fed up with the violence, I hit him with a stick and he died. I have two small children and our relatives did not want to take responsibility for them, so I have to raise them here,” she narrated.

Similarly, Khadia Bibi, a resident of Okara, who was a domestic worker in Lahore, was accused of theft at a house and sent to jail. Since her husband is an addict, she has to raise her daughter behind bars. Another prisoner, Tayyaba, a resident of Kahina, Punjab, is also raising two children while in confinement.

“I was implicated in a false robbery case and since I am divorced, I had no choice but to bring my children with me,” she informed.

When asked what sort of facilities are available to her children in the prison, Tayyaba replied that there was a school and seminary in the prison but the teachers are rarely present.

“Furthermore, some of the lower staff force our children to work,” Tayyaba alleged. In this regard, the Inspector General (IG) Prisons, Malik Mubashir Ahmed Khan, did not comment on the allegations but said that the schools in the jails are functional and children are provided with adequate food.

When asked as to why the infants have to live in jail, Khan informed that the authorities are legally bound to keep them with the mother until they are 5.

“Once the children turn 6, we either hand them over to the heirs or send them to SOS villages,” the IG Prisons informed.

Additional Chief Secretary Home, Captain (retd) Asadullah Khan, reiterating the IG’s views, said there was little they could do as they were legally bound to keep the infant with the mother.

“However, we are now creating a post of child specialist for jails so that they can take care of the children,” Khan told The Express Tribune.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 12^th, 2022.