Jajpur: Men commit more crimes than women usually do. However, new data shows that the number of women behind bars has seen a significant rise in the past few years in Odisha.
Approximately 7,622 women are currently serving their times in 87 jails across Odisha. Out of them, 1,431 women have been found guilty and have been convicted while the remaining 6,191 are serving as undertrials since 2010.
This data was released in Odisha Assembly by Minister Dibyashankar Mishra on the questions of MLA Mohancharan Majhi a few days back. Among the women in prison 36 are staying with their children.
There has been a significant rise in the involvement of women in thefts, contraband smuggling, murders and cyber crimes, the minister observed in the Assembly. With no employment opportunities, educated girls have taken to social media to lure young men and blackmail them with nude pictures and videos. There has also been a rise in women’s involvement in selling and peddling of drugs. Some of the districts where crimes by women have gone up are Mayurbhanj, Berhampur, Cuttack, Balasore, Khurda, Sundargarh, Kalahandi, Bolangir and Bhadrak.
As per reports, 490 women were jailed in 2010, 443 in 2011, 476 in 2012, 641 in 2013, 538 in 2014, 642 in 2015, 538 in 2016, 560 in 2017, 604 in 2018, 587 in 2019, 660 in 2020, 739 in 2021 and 704 by February 2022 in different prisons across Odisha.
The minister observed that no women have been impregnated or sexually harassed while serving time in prisons. He pointed out that the last time sexual harassment of a woman prisoner was reported in 2013. On orders of the National Human Rights Commission, the Odisha government had paid a compensation of Rs 1,00,000 to the victim.
There is only one women’s prison in Odisha and it has compounded the problems of the Odisha government. There are 92 jails in the state out of which five are circle jails, nine district prison, two special jails, six special sub-jails, 67 sub-jails, one open air prison and one model convict jail.
Most of the prisons are full to the brim with prisoners. While the total capacity in Odisha stands at 20,027 prisoners (both women and men), currently there are 19,571 which constitutes 97.72% of the prison population. The lack of women’s prisons has forced both men and women stay in the same complex.
On the other hand, five prisons in the state are non-functional now. Patrapur sub-jail in Ganjam district suffered damages during the cyclone ‘Phailin’. Repair work is currently on. Similarly, Kashipur sub-jail in Rayagada district has been closed due to manpower shortage. The Laxmipur sub-jail in Koraput district and Malkangiri sub-jail have now been turned into CRPF camps to combat the threat of Maoists. Also prisoners from Rajgangpur sub-jail in Sundargarh district have been transferred to other jails due to lack of water facilities.
It should also be stated that at least 80 posts out of 322 prison executive officers and 402 staff position out of 1,872 are lying vacant in prisons across Odisha.