Indians are tortured brutally in Pakistani jails: Ex-prisoners

New Delhi: Indian prisoner in Pakistan Sarabjit Singh continues to be in a coma after being attacked by fellow inmates in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat Jail. Other Indians who have been jailed in Pakistan say that attacks on Indian inmates are very common inside the Kot Lakhpat Jail and other prisons in Pakistan. They claim that Indian prisoners are treated in a very inhuman way in Pakistani jails.

Swarn Lal, who was imprisoned in Kot Lakhpat Jail, said that Indians are treated like animals and beaten up brutally. They are also locked up in very small rooms. Sometimes they are forced to lie on the floor and then pulled by their hands.

They are also hung upside down and beaten up by the prison staff who also trample on them. According to the Swarn Lal, a huge circle has been made in front of the barracks where Indian inmates are beaten up.

Lal also alleged that Indian inmates are forced to run from one barrack to another are beaten up until they faint. He added that he met Sarabjit Singh several times and found him to be a gentleman, but also feared that his life was in danger.

Lal said he knew that Sarabjit Singh would be attacked after the execution of Parliament attacker Afzal Guru and 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Kasab. He said that Sarabjit Singh was kept in an isolated cell with high security. No one was allowed to go near his cell except the security guards, said Lal.

He said that in spite of such high security the attack on Sarabjit Singh shows that there was a big conspiracy. Lal pointed that that earlier another Indian inmate Chamel Singh had been killed inside a Pakistani jail, then Indian soldiers beheaded in Mendhar sector of Jammu and Kashmir and now Sarabjit Singh has been attacked. All these were carried out to avenge the death of Afzal and Kasab.

On other hand, Jammu resident Vinod Sahni who was released from Kot Lakhpat Jail after 12 years also said that Indian inmates face very rude and violent atmosphere inside the jails. He said that several Indian prisoners have been killed inside the jails and their bodies thrown away.