Indian Man Refuses Parole Because He Feels 'Safer' In Prison Amid COVID-19

A man serving a six-year prison term in Uttar Pradesh, India, has reportedly turned down his parole, a temporary suspension of one’s prison sentence, saying that he feels safer in prison amid the worryingly rising COVID-19 cases in the country.

The prisoner has been identified as Ashish Kumar, a former teacher, who was arrested in 2015. Kumar’s request has reportedly been approved and he will stay inside the prison till he completes his sentence, BP Pandey, Senior Superintendent of the Meerut Prison revealed.

"Since he has given it in writing, obviously we have to accept their stand and honor it," Director General of Jail Administration Anand Kumar confirmed.

Twenty-one other prisoners from nine prisons in Uttar Pradesh have also reportedly refused parole on similar grounds suggesting that they feel safer imprisoned during the pandemic, reported The Independent.

The inmates who have lodged the requests are reportedly from various prisons across the state, including Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Meerut, Maharajganj, Gorakhpur, and Lucknow.

“Health checkup is done regularly in jails. They get food on time, they are safe and healthy in jails. The inmates say that once they go out of the jail, they will have to struggle to earn a living,” Anand Kumar told PTI.

If a prisoner gets a 90-day parole release, these 90 days will later be added on to their punishment term, which could be another reason that the inmates are choosing jail time over parole, Anand Kumar added.

According to the Khaleej Times, due to an unprecedented surge in COVID-19 cases across the country, the Indian Supreme Court on May 8 passed directions for the decongestion of prisons and ordered the release of all prisoners who were granted bail or parole last year in view of the pandemic.

In accordance with the Super Court’s directions to clear out prison facilities, the Uttar Pradesh government had decided to free 11,000 prisoners from 71 jails in March last year, India Today reported. Forty-two convicted prisoners and 326 undertrials have been released from Meerut Prison alone on interim bail to decongest the prisons, Pandey said.

Anand Kumar also added that over 2,200 inmates have been released on interim parole, and more than 9,200 prisoners have been given interim bail. Overall, around 11,500 inmates have been released following the orders of the Supreme Court, he said.

India has currently reported more than 28 million COVID-19 cases and 329,100 deaths due to the novel coronavirus to date and is growing at an unprecedented rate.