Two minors stamped entry seal on faces at Bhopal central jail

In a weird case of tagging for identity, two minors were stamped with an entry seal on their face when they reached to meet their imprisoned relatives on Raksha Bandhan at the Bhopal Central Jail on Monday.

The Madhya Pradesh Human Rights Commission (MPHRC) too has taken cognizance of the matter after the photographs of two children including a girl with an entry seal on their faces surfaced in a section of media in Bhopal.

The jail authorities, however, said the incident of 'stamping-seal-on-face' was an unintentional goof-up and might have been done mistakenly due to surge of visitors in the jail premises to mark the festive day of Raksha Bandhan.

"Couple of children might have been stamped an entry seal on their cheeks. It was unintentional and done mistakenly as over 8,500 people mostly women and children visited the jail premises on the day of Raksha Bandhan," Bhopal Central Jail's Superintendent Dinesh Nargave told PTI on Tuesday.

Nargave said there is a practice of putting an entry seal on every visitor's hand in a bid to distinguish them from the jail inmates.

"The visitors mix up with the prisoners and it is hard to point them out. So, a stamp is embossed on the hand of a visitor to identify them," he added.

Nargave doubted that this goof-up might have occurred as some women and girls wear burqa.

"We are conducting an inquiry into the matter. We will take action against the employee concerned, if found that this was done intentionally," he assured.

Meanwhile, the MPHRC has served a notice to the Director General (jails) seeking an explanation on this incident within seven days of notice.

"MPHRC has taken cognizance of the incident after the photograph of two minors with stamp on face was published today in the newspapers. We have served a notice to Director General (jails) seeking explanation about the incident," Commission's public relation officer LR Sisodia told PTI.

He said the Commission considered the stamp-on-the-face of child and the girl as the breach of human rights and also violation of child rights.

-PTI