Incarcerated for other people’s crimes, and locked up with the one person who often cares the least about them – their mother. Spriha Srivastava looks at the phenomenon of India’s child prisoners.

The children were dressed in a uniform. They were absolutely delighted to see me and welcomed me with an echo filled “Namaste”. These children who are in the age group of two months to seven years spend the entire day learning and playing with each other. Returning home is not an option, as they live with their mothers who are prisoners in India's largest jail.

Tihar Jail, situated in the western part of New Delhi, is one of the biggest jail complexes in the world. Contrary to its capacity of six thousand, this jail accommodates ten thousand inmates, many of whom are on trial. In separate enclosures it houses female inmates along with their male counterparts. In India, a woman prison inmate can keep her child in the prison with her till he/she reaches the age of five. These children stay in a daycare centre that has been created inside Central Jail No. 6, the jail for women prison inmates. I went inside Tihar jail that houses forty to fifty children of the inmates.

The day care centre that was started in the early 1990s was part of the prison reforms. Many non-governmental organisations came together to assist the jail authorities in conducting activities such as crèche training and skill building measures among inmates. Mrs. Swatantar Pahawa, the Superintendent of Central Jail No. 6 described this project as one of the best in the jail. She said, “Emotional bonding is very important for any child till the age of five. No matter how much we play with them but what they need is proper care and attention. And this is true for children both in and outside the jail.”

About ninety per cent of the inmates come from very poor backgrounds. Out of those who are already proved guilty, eighty per cent have been convicted of their husband’s murder. Thus their children receive much better care and attention inside the prison than they might have if they were left behind. The prison also has twenty four hour medical facilities to ensure that these children receive proper care. “We ensure that they are vaccinated timely. We also give a lot of attention to a balanced and healthy diet. I am sure they would have never got this outside. And these females are very careless. They just can’t take care of their children. I feel they are not capable of taking care of their children at all” said the chief medical officer at Tihar.

The daycare centre is run by inmates themselves. This way the children get to see their mothers even in the day. But many of them don’t even know why their mothers are in the prison. Some of them told me that they have to come on a vacation. But the supervisor of the daycare centre said that some children know about it. “Children who are very small, we don’t tell them about this. But there are some children who know and talk about it. For instance there is a four year boy named Krishna who has seen his mother killing his father so he openly says that his mother and uncle stabbed his father,” she said.

A lot of effort is made to divert the minds of these children. The caretakers ensure that their personalities are not affected by their initial few years in the prison. A child psychologist visits the centre regularly to help slow learners cope with their age. A lot of effort is also made by Stella, a Nigerian woman who is an under trial for past seven years in a drug abuse case. Children call her “Stella Mumma”. Stella mentioned that while some children were more intelligent than others in grasping certain things, others were good at art. There is a lot of emphasis on art in their curriculum. She also said that these children are confused in their heads because of their diverse backgrounds. “As long as they are in the daycare centre they are very disciplined but the time they go back to their mothers they start using abusive language,” said Stella.

Except for Sunday, the daycare centre runs everyday from nine until five in the evening. At five o’ clock these children are locked with their mothers in the cells. Some of them told me that they really don’t like going to the cells because they have no friends to play with. But apart from that, one can also mark a complete change in their behaviour after five o’ clock. Stella mentioned that the same children become very stubborn. The supervisor of the daycare centre told me that a huge difference can be seen in them once they go back to their mothers. Their mothers don’t seem to care about them at all. Because of this these children at times start seeking care and attention from each other. They witness many activities inside the women cell that impacts their innocent minds.

“Sometimes children here witness many things which their mothers should keep them away from. Since they are all women inmates here, these children witness lesbianism which is not good for their minds. Then they also witness their mothers getting changed in front of them because of which their own curiosity rises,” said the supervisor of the daycare centre.

In the recent past, a four year old boy and a girl were caught together in the toilet, after which the authorities have become very strict. The caretakers try their best to keep the minds of these children away from such activities especially once the child has crossed the age of five and continue to live inside because their age has been falsified in records. This is a usual practice at the prison. When the mother brings her child inside the prison she purposely lowers the age of the child on records so that the child can stay inside for a longer time. However, it has a strong impact on their brains. But many still believe that these children are in a much better condition than they would have been outside with their mothers in the prison. Dr. Kiran Bedi, India’s first and highest ranking woman police officer and the person who founded this project said the aim of this project is to value the life and time of the child.

“I still feel that they are much better off than many children off the streets or slums; I work with the slums too. Well it’s definitely not that bad but then it’s not the best either” said Dr. Kiran Bedi.

Once these children reach the age of five they are shifted to the hostel outside the jail where they continue with their studies. But their initial few years in the prison continues to impact their lives. “I was in the jail with my mother till I was five and I didn’t like the way all the inmates fought with each other. I still remember it” said one of the girls in the hostel. Some of them are aware of the reason behind their mother’s punishment and refuse to reveal this to their school friends. “It is awkward. What if they stop talking to me? What if they think wrong of me? It is a curse I have to bear all my life,” said a fifteen year old girl.

The children in the hostel are still better off from those at the daycare centre. The ones at the crèche are completely clueless about the world outside. For them the walls of Central Jail No. 6 defines a home and they think of all the inmates as their relatives. The caretakers strive to ensure that these children grow up to become normal human beings who can mingle with the society in the future. But how much of an impact the atmosphere in the prison has on their innocent minds is something they will discover only when they leave this place.