Treatment and correction of offenders in india
Answers
Punishment as a means to reform the offender was not considered as such during Hindu and Mughal period in India. During this period punishment was mainly based on deterrence. The recognized modes of punishment were death sentence, hanging, whipping, flogging, branding or starving to death. Prisons were considered to be places of torture. Treatment of prisoners was inhuman.
Prison reforms started in India from the British era. They made tremendous efforts for the reformation of Indian prisons and prisoners. They introduced radical changes in the then existing prison system. Sole purpose of sending a criminal to prison is to transform him into an honest and law abiding citizen. Jail enquiry committees in 1836 and 1862 expressed concern for the insanitary conditions of Indian prisons which resulted in deaths of the inmates. As a result of the recommendations the three enquiry committees the Prison Act 1894 was enacted. It provided for better prison administration and the act provided for classification of prisoners and the sentence of whipping was abolished. Emphasis was also laid on safe custody of prisoners and under-trials but also on their reformation and rehabilitation in the society.