NEW DELHI – The spreading of the coronavirus in India's notoriously crowded prisons has prompted authorities to impose jail lockdowns and release thousands of pretrial detainees on parole, as health experts worry that the cramped facilities are serving as breeding grounds that will enable the virus to spread.
Although there are no official numbers on how many inmates have been infected by the virus countrywide, India’s correction facilities are slowly recording more and more coronavirus cases, leading authorities to temporarily ban relatives and friends from visiting prisoners.
On Thursday, authorities locked down Nagpur Central Jail in the coastal state of Maharashtra, among the Indian states worst-hit by the pandemic.