BANGALORE: A prison is the home of a sinner. It is a place where his life is in abeyance for the tenure he has been punished. A place where he is held to repent for his mis-doings, either forcibly or in solitude, thinking of his guilt. In Indian prisons, which is generally overcrowded, solitude thinking does not come quite so easily. In most cases, it is either killing of conscience, in some cases it is anxiety for toxic inhalation or alcohol, in some cases, it is depression...all surrounded by the cacophony in restricted and cramped four walls. The psych of these prisoners takes a new dimension in such an atmosphere. Parappana Agrahara Central Jail is no different. There are about 4,200 prisoners in the jail with about 200-300 psychiatric patients. While some get into this mental dimension after reaching the prison, there are some who are here because they committed the crime because of their condition. But unfortunately, there was no solace for them from the medical fraternity in Bangalore. In spite of the sincere efforts of the jail authorities, no psychiatrist had volunteered to be on official duty at Bangalore Central Jail. This is no surprise, as according to Dr Satish Chandra, Director of NIMHANS, there are only two psychiatrists in the country’s jail structure; one in Tihar jail and one in Bangalore. Once in two weeks or so, according to their roll numbers and waiting criteria, the prisoners are taken to NIMHANS, usually in chains.Prisoners in Bangalore central jail are of two categories, convicts and under-trials. There are of course men and women. “Most individuals develop psychological problems on admission. The under-trials even more so. The suspense, regarding whether and when they will be released on bail or would they be convicted is very real and of great tension. The separation from the family, and the loneliness certainly takes a toll on every normal individual. Many of the under-trials are there probably based only on allegations. In any case, what most of them require is professionally trained people who will listen to them with genuine concern,”said Ephraim John, Director of Serenity Charitable Trust, which started rendering psychotherapy services to the prisoners in Bangalore Central Jail from January this year. Psychiatric patients are divided into two categories by Team Serenity for giving better service to them - those who developed psychiatric problems after coming to jail and those who had documented psychiatric problems prior to admission. Then there are those with genuine biochemical based psychiatric problems. As per the agreement with the prison authorities, the trust does not prescribe medication, since medication is to be prescribed by NIMHANS only.“It must be noted that these days the prison authorities are very cooperative and eager to render the required assistance to the inmates and those who serve them. Prisons in India have the stated noble purpose of reforming and rehabilitating criminals. Mental health professionals would be of crucial importance to achieve this,” said Ephraim.Mental health is the foremost of health issues, lack of which can lead to a variety of other health problems. Mental health facility on a regular basis should be considered a fundamental human right of prisoners, as they are most vulnerable to such problems. A thought that has certain significance is that if a person is convicted and put in prison so that his evilness does not harm the society, it does not really mean that the society has no evil in it.
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