No food arrangement in Jashore Court Jail : A question that remains unanswered
James Abdur Rahim Rana, Jashore
The jail is a silent witness to a humanitarian crisis in the Jashore court premises. There has been an uncertain picture for a long time about the lunch of the trial seekers here who come to police custody or surrender and do not get bail.
Who will provide food to these accused ? The court authorities, the police administration, or the prison authorities? Since this question has not been resolved for ages, many innocent people are also spending their days in the jail without food.
A police member in charge of the Jessore court jail, who did not want to be named, said that those who come from the jail to appear in court on a specific day do not have a problem with food. Because the prison authorities send them with lunch. The problem is with those who surrender in court and are denied bail, or those who are arrested by the police from different police stations and handed over to the court. These accused are sent to jail in the afternoon after the court formalities, sometimes even in the evening. During this long period, there is no provision for them to have lunch. Neither the police nor the court takes responsibility for this.
According to the policeman, when family members bring food for humanitarian reasons, the policemen in charge check it and give it to the accused. But those who do not have any relatives bring food, they have to go hungry. Sometimes, even the food brought by relatives cannot reach the accused on the orders of higher authorities, which further complicates the situation.
In this regard, the district police spokesperson, Additional Superintendent of Police (Administration and Finance) Noor-e-Alam Siddiqui, advised this reporter to talk to the court and prison authorities.
Md. Shafiqul Islam, Administrative Officer in Charge of the Jessore Chief Judicial Magistrate Court, and Roksana Khatun, the police inspector of the court, said that this is a humanitarian problem. Discussions will be held with the relevant authorities to resolve the problem.
Shariful Islam, the jailer of Jessore Central Prison, said that such convicts are not registered with the prison, so they are not responsible for providing food to the court's detention center.
