NEW DELHI, INDIA, August 3, 2012 (Indian Express):A special enclosure in the courtyard of Tihar Jail was abuzz with a range of emotions as families of nearly 4,500 inmates thronged the prison to celebrate Raksha Bandhan on Thursday. The jail authorities implemented a unique “advance booking system,” allowing the prisoners’ relatives to apply a month-and-a-fortnight ago for the visit. “This reduced last-minute confusion. But women without prior booking were also allowed in,” Tihar spokesperson Sunil Gupta said.
“A total of 4,000 male prisoners met their families and friends today. There were around 15,000 visitors. Of the 5,500 female inmates, 125 received visitors,” he said. This is the only day in a year when inmates are allowed to meet relatives in an open area, instead of the designated room where they have to stand behind a wire mesh, with the visitor on the other side.
“Three persons per family, excluding children, are allowed per inmate. Around 30 inmates are allowed to meet their relatives for 20 minutes at a time. This opportunity comes once a year”. But the visitors are not allowed to carry anything inside. “We provide them with rakhis and puja material. We brought 850 packets of sweets from outside, besides 200 packets of petha that the inmates made. Relatives can buy sweets from us,” Superintendent of Jail No. 6 Shamsher Singh said.