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They have the basic facilities in the Welikada Prison, but the female prisoners suffer great emotional pain
Locked up in a world of misery
By Dhananjani Silva
Though attention is often focused on the plight of women in society, it is seldom that we talk of the plight of female prisoners. However grave their crime, the life they spend inside the prison cell, away from those who are near and dear to them and the pain and heartache they suffer in bearing the stigma of a ‘prisoner’, are indeed immense.

The female prisoners in the Welikada Prison live in relatively decent surroundings. There is a temple, a kovil, a church and a mosque all within the prison compound and they are thus able to engage in religious activities.

Even so, life for these female prisoners is somewhat gloomy for all the food and facilities they receive at the prison are no substitutes for their isolation and emotional suffering. The slogan written on the prison walls “prisoners too are human beings” indeed needs to be taken to heart by the public.

Nalini (name changed) from Tambuththegama is a mother of eight -- four daughters and four sons, the youngest being only 11 months old. Holding her infant close to her bosom Nalini narrates her story. “I was sent to jail for one year for getting involved in the liquor business. This is my youngest and my parents are looking after the others. It was poverty that took me to the liquor business and now I am paying the price for it,” she says sadly.

“I have been here for two months now, and there are nine more months to go. But I keep thinking of my children who are at home, how they would have missed me this Avurudu. We get food and all the facilities here, in fact more than what we get while at home, but the most difficult of all is to bear the pain I feel when I think about my children,” she told us with tears filling her eyes.

With yet another 20 more days for her baby’s birth, 21-year-old Shanthini (name changed) from Hatton tells us how she was employed as a domestic at a house in Hatton and accused of stealing. “It is only after I underwent the medical check-up after coming here that I got to know I was pregnant. I was sent to jail for one year,” she said.

“My husband has a small shop in the village and the income he gets is barely enough for us to survive. My husband however loves me and during his visits he brings baby shirts, towels, napkins and the other baby items needed,” Shanthini went on adding that she is looking forward to going back to the village and starting a new life with her husband and the baby once her term is over.

Rajika (name changed) is in prison for drug dealing. Hailing from Dehiwela, she is a mother of two daughters aged six and 10 and is three months pregnant with her third child.

“My husband is a sweep seller and I did not want to work anywhere because we somehow managed to live with the little money he earned. But we lost everything to the December 26 tsunami devastation and after that our lives changed. Out of frustration and poverty, I then got involved in the drug business, and today, I am locked up inside this prison. I feel as if I am paying the price for being born poor and helpless,” she said wiping her tears away, unable to speak further.

Then we heard the story of the five-year-old girl who has won the love and affection of many prison officers. Hailing from Ratnapura, Amani (name changed) was only two months old when she came to the prison with her mother who was taken in on charges of drug dealing. Little Amani is a talented singer and dancer.

“She was even selected to participate in a television programme,” the prison officers say, adding that they feel she is intelligent too and will go a long way if she receives proper assistance and guidance along with a good education.

Children of the prison
Of the 590 female prisoners in the Welikada prison, 10 are pregnant. There are also about 25, both female as well as male children in the prison who are staying here along with their mothers or who were born to female prisoners.

These children are allowed to stay with their mothers until they reach the age of five, after which they are handed over to the father, grandparents or immediate relatives. If there is nobody to look after the child, the child is placed in an orphanage with the mother’s consent until the mother is released. However, the mothers are allowed to visit them once a month.

Life for female prisoners is full of activity. They receive vocational training in dress making, gem cutting and polishing, weaving, making handicrafts and coir products among others. They also earn a salary which is forwarded to a bank account which they have access to after they are released.

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