Tika Ram Pradhan

Kathmandu, April 16:

The jail can accomodate only up to 150 inmates but there are more than 300 of them including some foreigners and about two dozens of women here in the Sadar Khor jail at Dillibazaar. Overwhelmed by people, there is hardly any space left in the jail for any creative activitity. Inmates can be seen playing carom boards, chatting or engaging themselves in some income generating activities and there is no space for them to walk around. Many people can be seen in the open ground but still the living rooms are fully occupied. Some are engaged in preparing different sellable items on their bed because there is no space for them to work while some others are watching a donated televison.

A teacher from Lamjung Shree Kant Adhikari who has been jailed from the past three years for supporting Maoist cause, said that the living rooms are overcrowded most of the time. "We feel uncomfortably hot in the rooms here because of bad ventilation and large number of people sharing the rooms." A person who lived in the jail for some 10 days said, most of the new inmates are compelled to sleep on the open floor under the beds because of lack of beds and space.