Female prisoners to receive free legal aid

Minister for women's development Tauqeer Fatima Bhutto says provincial govt will provide legal aid to female prisoners

HYDERABAD: The provincial government will provide free legal aid to female prisoners, said the minister for women’s development, Tauqeer Fatima Bhutto, after visiting the women’s ward at the central prison in Hyderabad on Wednesday.

According to the jail’s superintendent, Syeda Munawara Sultana, the Hyderabad Central Prison has 29 female prisoners.

While speaking to the media, the minister mentioned that the jail administration has been asked to submit a report on the cases awaiting a hearing. Members of her department will collect information from these prisoners and will arrange for lawyers to plead these cases, she claimed. She also mentioned that separate arrangements had been made for the children of these women.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 30^th, 2012.