A Study on Prison Reforms and Prisoners’ Rights

Abstract

Prisoners are also human beings and thus, must be treated with dignity and respect. They are also guaranteed certain fundamental rights by the Indian Constitution. However, there has been an increase in the number of incidents relating to the violation of the rights of the prisoners like right to privacy, health, education, legal aid, right against inhumane treatment, etc. The major objective of the study is to determine the most violated right of prisoners and to determine the most effective reform measure to protect the rights of prisoners. The study has been conducted using the empirical research method. The samples have been collected using the convenient sampling method. A total of 205 samples have been collected for the study. The sample frame taken here is of public areas in and around Chennai. The independent variables are gender, age, educational qualification, occupation, monthly income and marital status. The dependent variables are fundamental rights of prisoners, causes of violation of prisoners’ rights, most violated rights of prisoners, major drawbacks of the Indian prison system and the most effective prison reform measures. Graphical representation and correlation are the statistical tools used for the study. The major findings of the study are that right to privacy and right against inhumane treatment are the most violated rights of the prisoners, overcrowding and torture and ill-treatment are the major drawbacks of the Indian prison system and that police brutality and lack of legislation for prisoners’ rights are the major reasons for the violation of prisoners’ rights. It is recommended that the Government must introduce a new legislation exclusively to provide for prisoners’ rights and to construct rehabilitation centres for the purpose of transforming the offenders into law-abiding citizens of the country.