No objection To Release Manu Sharma From Jail, SaysSabrina Lal

Twelve years after Manu Sharma was sentenced to life in prison for killing model Jessica Lall for denying him a drink at a party, her sister Sabrina Lall says she "forgives him" and won't object to his release. "His conviction was closure for me," she said today, wishing to "let go of the baggage" and move on. 

NGO Working for Rehabilitation of Jailed Inmates

Once inmates are released from jails, they find the society usually doesn’t want to accept them. As a result, it becomes difficult for them to try and lead a normal life again with the stigma attached to them. They are unable to get proper jobs and often cannot even find a place to stay. The rehabilitation of inmates after being released from jail is important to ease their transition back into mainstream society, especially with the stigma attached to them.

Many NGOs are involved in this rehabilitation process, and the Manu Sharma NGO in particular works to make sure prisoners have the skills and abilities to live outside a prison. This NGO, the Siddhartha Vashishta Charitable Trust, not only helps inmates inside jail and provide them training and basic educational resources but also helps them outside jail by getting them various jobs such as a security guard, cleaner and chef.

It also aids in getting their children admitted into schools and providing for their educational expenses and school supplies. Furthermore, it helps families of prisoners who have gone through social ridicule and, most of the times, extreme poverty as the sole breadwinner of their family has been in prison.

Moreover, freed prisoners usually go through emotional and psychological trauma of being in the harsh conditions of their imprisonment, which is why the Manu Sharma NGO also provides them with motivational training and counseling sessions as well as mentoring for assimilation into society.

NGO Addressing Prison Conditions

The prison conditions all over India are in a deplorable state. Even though a prison is supposed to provide inmates with acceptable living conditions that include clean drinking water and basic hygiene, the reality is far from this.

Inmates in jail have to bear the harsh months of extreme heat in the summers and severe cold in the winters without having access to proper ventilation in summers and warm blankets in winters.

Sometimes, there is no potable drinking water either or any form of sanitation facility.

Most prisons in India also have a problem of overcrowding, which further results in management issues and often leads to conflict and violence within jails.

With a growing prison population and a lack of facilities, prisoners are also at a health risk of developing contagious diseases. Moreover, there is either minimal or no space available for prisoners to perform any form of cultural, educational, recreational or religious activities.

The Siddhartha Vashishta Charitable Trust, an NGO run by Manu Sharma, addresses living conditions in the prison and brings them to light. Having spent around eleven years in prison himself, he has faced the harsh realities of what it is like to be in prison. According to him, people in jail suffer not just physically but mentally as well. 

Manu Sharma NGO proposes to use volunteers from the community to help improve the morale of the inmates and train the staff members at prisons to solve these basic issues.