Balodabazar, 10 October (Hindus). Subjail Balodabazar was inspected on Thursday by the expert committee for age verification of prisoners detained in the jail.
The members of the expert committee went to the designated barracks in the jail premises and took information related to the prisoners aged between 18 to 21 years about their age, education and health. All the prisoners provided information that they were above 18 years of age. The names of three suspected juveniles below 18 years of age have been given to Chief Sentinel Upjail Balodabazar so that information regarding age verification can be obtained from them. After age verification, action can be taken to transfer the children to the Child Observation Home and transfer the case to the Juvenile Justice Board if the age is determined to be less than 18 years.
District Program Officer Tikvendra Jatwar instructed that, in case of suspicion of identification of children below 18 years of age, immediate information should be given to the District Child Protection Unit so that the case can be transferred to the Juvenile Justice Board. In-charge District Child Protection Officer, Legal cum Probation Officer and social worker collected information regarding the daily routine, food, health, education and skill development of the detained prisoners. Legal Services Authority member Sanjay Soni took information about the cases of detained prisoners and discussed about legal aid and their rights.
During the inspection, District Program Officer Tikwendra Jatwar, Pushpendra Pandey from Jail Department, Tileshwar Maravi, Member Legal Services Authority Sanjay Soni, Child Protection Officer in-charge Deepak Rai, Legal cum Probation Officer Megha Sharma and social worker Tukeshwar Jagat were present.