Dinesh Kamath's news item 'Are jail authorities or hospital management to be blamed?' that was published in Newsband

Are jail authorities or hospital management to be blamed?

By Dinesh Kamath

NAVI MUMBAI: The escaping of accused from the custody of jail guards at the municipal hospital is becoming a frequent occurrence.

Taloja jail prisoner, Hanumant S Patil alias Prem (24), had hoodwinked jail guards and escaped from the second floor toilet window of the municipal hospital in Vashi. Earlier criminal Ganesh Shinde had managed to escape from the same hospital. The police managed to arrest Shinde but not Prem.

 Prem was brought to hospital by jail officials after he complained of severe stomach ache. The second-floor toilet's window had no grills, and this helped Prem escape by simply removing the glass panels and climbing down the drain pipes. Incidentally, Shinde too was taken to hospital after complaining of a stomach ache.

Now who is to be blamed for these two major lapses – the jail authorities or hospital management?

If you see from one angle, one can’t blame the hospital’s staff since it is not their responsibility to take care of arrested criminals and accused persons who are brought to the hospital. It is the duty of jail authorities to keep an eye on them. The jail guards should have checked the interior of the toilet before allowing the accused to enter it.

At the ward from where Prem escaped, the toilet window was large enough and the 'service ledge' just outside it was wide enough and also the drain pipes on the wall outside the window was easy to climb down it and hence Prem could escape with ease.

Shinde escaped in a different way. He took the permission of the guards while going to the toilet and after that he just walked out of the unguarded male ward and escaped while jail officials were under the impression that he was in the toilet.

These two incidents are serious lapse on part of the jail authorities. The hospital authorities also can’t escape the blame. They also have certain responsibilities. It is necessary for the hospital authorities also to be alert whenever the prisoners are brought to their ward for medical treatment. They should extend full cooperation to jail authorities during such moments.

 A senior police official was of the opinion that something drastic should be done to prevent such incident from recurring.