They are not criminals but the government treats them no differently and doesn´t make proper arrangements for their accomodation. These children are suffering within the four walls of jails from cold-related diseases for lack of warm clothing and nurishing food. [break]
Laxmi Shah of Kailali gave birth to a daughter a month ago at the women´s prison at Sundhara. But she has not gotten anything extra from the prison management on account of her newborn. She says her child is suffering from cough and cold and fears she may catch pneumonia. “The Prison Management Act 2020 does not allow for any special considerations and we are giving them food and allowance as per the act,” said Director General at the Department of Prison Management (DOPM) Durga Prasad Bhandari.
Three-year-old Roshan (name changed) of Melamchi is with his mother Shanti Tamang at the same center. "We don´t have a warm quilt, nor can I afford to buy him a jacket," complained Shanti, who has completed some 30 months of her sentence in a murder case.
DOPM only provides a shirt and a pair of trousers per year each for children living in jails. A child under seven only gets Rs 10 every day apart from its share of rice. The convicts have to manage everything else, including vegetables, clothing and fuel, for their children out of their daily allowance.
The government´s slogan about nutritious food for infants remains merely a slogan at the prisons, with the daily allowance and share of rice hardly sufficient for a full stomach. "He is a small child and cannot understand my plight and compulsions," Tamang said.
"He demands instant food items which are costly in the prison. How can I buy him such stuff when no one comes to meet us here," she added. There are numerous such cases in prisons in the capital. DOPM says there are 99 children under four living with their parents in prisons across the country.
Rita Pariyar, 35, of Nepalgung lives with a four-year-old son and has a similar tale. "We do not ever get to taste meat. My child has had no dairy item either since coming to the prison," said Pariyar, who is into the third year of her murder sentence.
Bishnu Ghimere of Dhulikhel has two sons with her in the same prison. "The older one is three and the younger, 18 months," she said. Her children, thankfully, are not so demanding but the extra income she makes selling hand-made cotton wicks is not sufficient to shower her motherly love on them. “I sometimes buy them a packet of noodles with the money," she said.
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