Mumbai: Six months after 32-year-old convict Asghar Ali Mansoori died by suicide inside the Nashik central prison, alleging persistent torture at the hands of prison officials, another prisoner has attempted to take his own life in the same jail. Thirty-year-old Avinash Jadhav was, however, rushed to the Nashik civil hospital and his life was saved. Jadhav too has accused the jail officials of harassing him for close to a decade. He claims that more recently, he was targeted for deposing against the officials and supporting Mansoori’s allegations of torture.
Jadhav’s complaint – sent to the prison superintendent and the Nashik road police – was filed through his brother Arvind Jadhav but has not been acted upon. Meanwhile, Jadhav has been sent to solitary confinement, without any medical help. A case has been registered against him for attempt to suicide under section 309 of the Indian Penal Code.
The Nashik road senior police inspector Suraj Bijli confirmed that Jadhav had attempted to kill himself by drinking sanitiser on April 23 and has been charged for attempting suicide. However, when asked why Jadhav tried to take his own life, Bijli bluntly said, “What can the reason be? There are none.”
Jadhav’s brother Arvind meanwhile claims he made several failed attempts to get a complaint registered at the Nashik Road police station against the officials who he says pushed his brother to suicide. He later sent the complaint through a speed post.
Avinash Jadhav letter by The Wire
The Mansoori case
Mansoori, who hung himself to a ceiling fan of a cell on October 7 last year, swallowed a two-page suicide note. The note was extracted from his abdomen at the time of autopsy. It names five prison officials, including senior jailor Ashok Karkar, as people responsible for his death. While his suicide note is a clear dying declaration, every effort has been made to protect the erring officials. All five people named by Mansoori continue to be on duty at the same prison, even after repeatedly being accused of physical attacks, threats and mental torture by at least seven other prisoners, who are also prime witnesses in Mansoori’s case. They have written a series of letters which have been sent to court through their friends and lawyers and other discreet channels, crying for help. They have also testified before a judicial magistrate and an internal prison inquiry. But no efforts have been made to protect these witnesses. Copies of their letters and detailed complaints are in The Wire‘s possession.
It is not just prisoners who have spoken up against jail officials. One jail official too has written to the Bombay high court against these erring officers and had accused them of having pushed Mansoori to suicide. The jail official, in his detailed complaint, has also accused the officers of ill-treating him.
Following Mansoori’s death, which was first published in The Wire, his family had moved the Bombay high court seeking an inquiry. The court had directed the prison authorities to protect the witnesses and also conduct a judicial magistrate inquiry. The report is awaited. The hearing in the high court, meanwhile, has been delayed because of the rising COVID-19 cases in the state. The court is presently only handling “important cases”.
A screengrab taken during a video call between Asghar Ali Mansoori and his family members. Mansoori would speak to his family at least once a week on a video call.
Photo: By arrangement
Jadhav in his letter, sent through the post from the jail to his brother, has claimed that the prison officials have been denying him emergency parole – which is being granted to prisoners in the pandemic – and has been pressured to not depose against them before a magistrate. Nashik prison superintendent Pramod Wagh has denied Jadhav’s allegations and said he has been “making up stories” to get himself out of jail. “The high court has denied his furlough petition and he has been insisting we [prison officials] find him a way to be released from jail. Since we haven’t, he is adopting different tactics to get media attention,” Wagh, speaking to The Wire, claimed.
Wagh also recalled one incident from 2012, when Jadhav had reportedly not surrendered for days after his parole leave had exhausted. Since 2012, Jadhav has been denied parole and furlough leave – both prisoners’ rights – several times and he has not been allowed to step out of jail in nine years.
Jadhav’s incident can’t be looked at in isolation. Several wrongdoings from the Nashik Central prison have been periodically exposed, more specifically after Mansoori’s death. The witnesses, like Mansoori, are all jail warders – a post given to convicted prisoners to aid the prison officials in monitoring and smooth running of the prison. They have taken a tremendous risk in fighting for justice for Mansoori and have stuck to their statement all through.
One of the witnesses, convicted prisoner Mustufa Yunus Khan was brutally attacked by prison staff on November 27, allegedly for speaking up. Another prisoner, Mohammad Zuber Qasam Shaikh, has complained to his family on several occasions that his and the other witnesses’ “lives are in danger” in jail. One of the prisoners has told The Wire that attempts have been made to stage an attack on them and they fear that they could be killed in a “staged prison riot”.
Also Read: Prisoner Raises Fresh Allegations of Torture Against Nashik Jail Officials
Among the recent tactics to dissuade them, the prison officials have raked up several old cases of disciplinary action against each of the prime witnesses for “complaining against them”. The notices, accessed by The Wire, quote instances between 2017-2021 and have been issued under the Maharashtra Prisons (Discipline) (Amendment) Rules, 2015. There are multiple grounds mentioned for serving the notice, but the primary focus is on the letters that the warders have been writing against jail officials. “You have been using secret means to make fake and baseless complaints against jail officials,” one of the clauses reads.
The attempt, these prisoners claim, is to strip them off their warder posts. Only convicted prisoners with a good track record are selected for the warder’s post. The warder is responsible for the assigned area, prisoners’ mobility and their behaviour in jail. The warders, by the virtue of their job profile, enjoy relatively more freedom and access to basic facilities. Taking the post away would have an adverse impact on their lives, one of the prisoners says in the letter.
In Mansoori’s case, similar attempts were made to remove him from the post in 2019. He had claimed that since he was not toeing the line of the corrupt officials, he was being targeted. This complaint has been echoed by the witnesses in his suicide case.
The Wire made efforts to contact Maharashtra additional director general of police Sunil Ramanand but did not get any response. The story will be updated as and when Ramanand responds.
If you know someone – friend or family member – at risk of suicide, please reach out to them. The Suicide Prevention India Foundation maintains a list of telephone numbers (www.spif.in/seek-help/) they can call to speak in confidence. You could also refer them to the nearest hospital.