PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government is planning to establish a separate jail for women to ensure protection and better facilities to women inmates, Mashriq news has reported on Tuesday.
“The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa prison reforms also include the construction of separate jail for women inmates,” Shafiullah, Special Assistant to KP Chief Minister for Prisons, told Mashriq. He informed that the decision has been taken in view of inadequate facilities and problems faced by women prisoners in KP’s jails.
Read more:
First female police station in Swat gives women hope for justice
The special assistant urged that the purpose of separate jail is to provide sense of protection to women, languishing in various jails. He said that in the regard, the prison department officials will hold meeting with the Chief Minister on the issue soon. There are 12 jails in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with a capacity of 354 female inmates. Currently, there are 160 female inmates, of whom 125 are on trial and 35 have been convicted. The Home Department will seek approval from the Chief Minister for a separate jail, after which a feasibility study report will be prepared to establish the prison on a suitable location.
On 1st September, the issue of lack of facilities in prisons was raised in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly, where the opposition said that the inmates are deprived of basic health and other facilities of life. On this,the Speaker KP assembly Mushtaq Ahmed Ghani asked Shafiullah to visit jails of the province and examine the facilities available for the prisoners. Ghani said that the inmates have to be provided all basic human rights and necessities of life as it was their right and the responsibility of the government.
In his statement on the floor of the assembly, Shafiullah has admitted that some prisons of the province are overcrowded, saying that more jails were being constructed to overcome this problem.