'Please call us back to jail...!' Cheemeni prisoners on parole sick of freedom

Prison

Cheemeni (Kasargod): "We are tired of this freedom. Please call us back to jail, sir..!" This strange request has come from a batch of prisoners who availed a special parole offered by the authorities to safeguard inmates of the open prison at Cheemeni in Kasargod from COVID-19.

Now, some among them have written a letter to the authorities asking for permission to return to the jail. Two of them have now, in fact, returned to the jail.

There are more than 230 inmates in the open prison in Cheemeni. Most of them have been convicted in connection with political murders. All but 10 of them were released recently on a special parole.

The first 23 inmates who were released on parole have returned to jail, but the 157 prisoners of the second group who were given the temporary release continue to remain outside the jail as per court orders. Some among the latter batch have written to the authorities saying they were finding it difficult to live outside the prison.

According to the jail authorities, those wanting to return probably feel the prison life to be better because of regular work and good pay in addition to the good atmosphere of the open prison.

However, there have also been some who have approached court seeking an extension of the parole, following which the jail has received an order saying it should not compel those on parole to return to the prison.

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