Sindh's prisons have been overcrowded as the number of prisoners in them had swelled from 13, 706 to 18, 437 in the last five years. According to a research, entitled "Through the Lens of Legal Aid May 2014" and conducted by Legal Aid Office-Committee for Welfare of Prison (LAO) under Sindh Prisons Reforms, prisoners' population has gradually increased over the past five years from 13, 706 in 2010 to 18, 437 prisoners in April, 2014 as against the official capacity of 11, 827 prisoners in 26 jails of Sindh.
An official of the LAO said: "Low-income people due to poverty constantly use criminal activities as a source of their income and, as such, it is the main reason behind involvement of such a large number people of in different offenses." However, women prisons located in Karachi, Larkana and Hyderabad and Juvenile prison having the facility of Youthful Offenders Industrial School (YOIS) in Karachi, Sukkur, Hyderabad and Larkana are found to be under populated. The report further stated that overcrowding in prisons had created a number of issues relating to sanitation, hygiene, contagious diseases, sexual abuse.
The report further said that it was due to overcrowding and congestion that many prisoners, including a mother and a two-year-old-child, are reportedly suffering from tuberculosis. Besides, a number of prisoners are becoming victims of infectious diseases such as HIV, AIDS, Hepatitis-C and skin diseases, the report added.
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