Andhra Pradesh govt to release 55 women serving life terms

Lauding the decision by Chief Minister Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, Home Minister Mekathoti Sucharitha on Friday said that it was a great step to release female prisoners who had completed a minimum of five years in jail.

Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh government has decided to release 55 women prisoners serving life terms in different jails across the state this week.

Lauding the decision by Chief Minister Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, Home Minister Mekathoti Sucharitha on Friday said that it was a great step to release female prisoners who had completed a minimum of five years in jail.

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“The CM has taken a great decision to release female prisoners who have completed five years of punishment. There are 147 female prisoners who are facing life imprisonment. Out of them, 55 are eligible for release. They will be scrutinised and then released, probably by next week,”

Mekathoti Sucharitha said at a press conference on Friday.

Terming the decision ‘historic’, the Home Minister said that the CM has taken this initiative for the welfare of the society.

“Most life convicts are a passive participant in the crime. At times, they become a victim of circumstances. They are less likely to go back to the crime again. The CM is a sympathiser of women which has again been proved with this historic decision. Releasing women from jails would be beneficial for society,” Home Minister said.

“Most of these convicts are provided formal education and they are given training in trades like tailoring, embroidery and saree painting. We hope that these women will lead a good life and will not commit any crime in future,” the minister added further.

A total of 21 women from Rajahmundry prison, 27 from Kadapa prison, 2 from Visakhapatnam prison and 5 from Nellore prison will be released after scrutiny in the coming week.

“Women are the backbone of our society and that’s why we decided to release them in a unique initiative by the government. We will release male prisoners subsequently but the CM wanted to release the women prisoners first. It’s a wonderful idea,” Md Ehsan Reja, Director General of Prisons, said at the press conference on Friday.