Kerala govt extends parole of aged prisoners in the wake of Covid-19 spike

: The Kerala government

has extended the ongoing parole of aged prisoners in jails for one more month in view of the spike in COVID-19 cases in the state.

The home department, in its recent order, said that the ongoing parole of the prisoners aged 65 years and above has been extended in the wake of the pandemic.

As the Coronavirus infection is yet to be contained completely, the ongoing parole of prisoners aged 65 years and above and belonging to all categories, is extended to one more month since their actual date of return, the order said.

It also directed the jail heads to readmit the prisoners belonging to other age groups as per the prescribed time frame mentioned in the government order concerned issued earlier, it said.

In a bid to prevent the spread of COVID 19 in prisons, the Kerala government had granted special parole and remission to prisoners belonging to different categories in recent months.

However, the aged prisoners, punished for severe crimes, including sexual assaults against children and human trafficking and those detained underUnlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act ,were excluded from grant of parole and remission.

Over 6,000 prisoners are lodged in a total of 54 jails, including three central jails in Kerala.