Suicides on a rise in Telangana jails!

Telangana jails seem to have picked up a shocking trend of prisoners resorting to suicides in jails. So far this year as many as 10 prisoners have committed suicide, including two inmates of Cherlapalli Central Prison who ended their lives in the last two days. During 2014, as many as 56 prisoners committed suicide and during 2013, 53 prisoners took their lives.

It is said that the prisoners are in mental stress as their families refuse to meet them often in jails. At one point of time, they begin to feel too lonely and see no meaning in continuing to live. Officials offer counseling to such inmates but often they prove not sufficient.

Most jails have a dearth of trained counselors, psychologists and psychiatrists. There should be welfare officers in jails who should be taking care of the prisoners but instead of these welfare officers being appointed, with the aim of cost cutting, only jail officials have been designated as welfare officer and they prove to be very less useful.