The function was organized by the relatives of inmates. Constituent Assembly member Krishna Bhakta Pokhrel, who also attended the function, was positive toward their demand and said that he would take initiatives for their release. He was of opinion that inmates should be allowed to live with their family in times of such great natural disaster."In times of disaster, it is not human to separate people from their family," said Prativa Tripathi from Gaidakot. "Rather, free them and allocate the food being provided to them to the quake victims. We should engage the inmates in reconstruction works," she added.
Prativa's husband has been serving prison term since four years for rhino poaching. "The prison was in dilapidated condition even before the earthquake. And the continuing aftershocks have inflicted more damages to the prison," said Til Prasad Neupane, another local.
Rita Bastola, mother of an inmate, said she does not want to lose her son. She also expressed disappointment at the sorry state of prison. "The prison was in a dilapidated condition even before the quake. To make matters worse, it is overcrowded. Now we fear that all the inmates would be buried if another big earthquake occurs," she added.
According to her, she spent all her money to secure her son's release. "The quake has destroyed even concrete houses. We fear that the prison built during the Rana regime will collapse if there is a strong aftershock and kill many more. It is unwise to keep inmates in jail in times of disaster," said another Bipin Ramudamu, father of another inmate.
The relatives of the inmates have said that though it may not be possible to free all inmates, it should formulate a policy to grant amnesty to inmates accused of relatively minor offenses.
"Maybe it's not possible to free prisoners accused of heinous crimes. However, those convicted of minor offenses should be freed. The government should not put their lives at risk," said attendee Bikas Bika.
Speaking at the function, CA member Pokhrel said he had seen many prisons in Nepal to be in sorry state and overcrowded. "Lives of prisoners should not be risked by locking them in dilapidated prison buildings. They should be freed," he said.
"The law has provisions for general amnesty. The government should invoke the law to release prisoners in times of disaster. The new constitution should deal with this issue," said Pokhrel. "Inmates living in unsafe conditions should be freed by bringing an ordinance."
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