Two died and 36 infected
BIRATNAGAR, Oct 26: Two inmates of Morang jail, who fell ill, died while undergoing treatment at a local hospital on Wednesday.
They were admitted to the hospital after suffering from respiratory problems, fluid in lungs, swollen testicles among others. As per the details provided by the prison, Prakash Katuwal of Jalpaiguri of India and Mahadev Sah of Biratnagar-8 lost their life while undergoing treatment. Katuwal was serving a jail term for human trafficking while Sah was convicted of drug smuggling.
Dengue infection goes unchecked in Morang
Prem Prasad Sapkota, chief of the prison, claimed that the prisoners had a lot of oily and spicy food brought by their family members during Tihar. "That is one of the reasons for their illness," he said.
However, Sah and Katuwal were hospitalized much before Tihar. Sapkota himself contradicted his claims by saying that the two were undergoing treatment for more than 20 days.
He informed that many prisoners started encountering problems related to respiration and digestion after Tihar. Many of them are suffering from diarrhea while some even have swollen feet. During a health check-up on Tuesday, as many as 36 inmates were found suffering from various infections.
Even though the prisoners have been provided with medicines inside the prison, their health condition has not improved at all. Ten of the inmates with critical health have been taken to Koshi Zonal Hospital and Nobel Hospital for further treatment.
As per the information provided by the prison administration, 13 more inmates with swollen feet will be transferred to Kathmandu prison very soon.
The prison of Morang is very small and congested due to which inmates have to cope with various difficulties. They hardly get to move from one place to another due to lack of space. It is believed that the unmanaged pollution on the premises is the root cause behind the increasing respiratory problems among the jailbirds. Though the prison was made just for 300 inmates, currently 754 prisoners are serving their jail terms there, which is beyond the capacity of the jail.
