Karnataka government sets up panel to probe sexual abuse in prison

BENGALURU: The Karnataka government has set up a committee to inquire into allegations of women prisoners at Bangalore Central Prison being forced into sex by prison officials and wardens.

Chief Secretary Kaushik Mukherjee told ET: “The committee, which will meet inmates and inquire, will be headed by a woman officer. We will do a thorough investigation. We are a civilised society and if these allegations are proved to be true, we will take severe action. The government is not going to spare anybody.“

The matter came to light when a judge came across two letters, detailing sexual exploitation, written by a group of women prisoners. They alleged wardens and a few officials who were named in the letter were charging male prisoners ` `500 and forcing . 300-.women prisoners to comply. The letters were addressed to the Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court.

However, Bengaluru central prison DIG PN Jayasimha told ET there was “no truth“ in the allegations. The male barrack was halfa-kilometer away from the female barrack and there were CCTVs keeping watch. “Let the committee come and talk to the women wardens. They are so disturbed by the allegations, they are contemplating suicide,“ he said.

Former Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy demanded sacking of Home Minister KJ George from the Cabinet. “The home minister has failed completely in securing the safety of women, even inside the central prison.

The matter has reached the high court and the home minister remains detached from the issue,“ he said. BJP MP Shobha Karandlajre said, “What kind of a jail are they running? There cannot be anything worse than this. I am going to write to the National Commission for Women, and raise it in the Lok Sabha. We will draw the government's attention to inquire into the possible exploitation of women prisons across India. The government should hold high level inquiry and send those involved in this to the same Parappana Agrahara prison.“

Karnataka State Human Rights Commission's acting chairperson Meera Saxena told ET it will register a suo moto complaint and investigate the allegations.