60 inmates crammed in a facility for 25

The district jail at Sandhikharka of Arghakhanchi has more than double the number of prisoners it is supposed to house. At present, there are 60 inmates (three women and 57 men) in the facility, informs jailor Krishna Prasad Acharya of the District Jail Office.

The inmates, as a result, are deprived of even minimal facilities. The 60 inmates have been forced to live miserably, locked in a prison with a capacity of 25 inmates.

The problem of overcrowding is the result of lack of budget for prison upgrade, says the management. “The prison management department had built a new building last year,” Chief District Officer Bishnu Poudel informs. “But as the new premises don’t have compound walls yet we have been unable to move prisoners there.”

The new building has the capacity of 80. The main prison, built in 1989, was damaged during the conflict.

Assistant CDO Binod Khanal says that if the budget is made available, the compound wall can be completed and prisoners shifted without any further delay.