At least 304 children are spending their days in 68 prisons across Bangladesh with their incarcerated mothers, prompting the Child Rights Advocacy Coalition in Bangladesh to call for the formulation of specific regulations to ensure their healthy physical and mental development.

The CRAC made the call in a statement recently sent out by Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK). 

A platform of 10 national and international organizations and networks working on child rights development since 2013, the CRAC said prison was by no means an ideal place for a child.

“It is disheartening that the rights of children of convicted mothers are not taken into consideration. Under the current system, these children are being punished along with their mothers. They remain deprived of the opportunity to lead a normal life.

“The state has an obligation to protect all children in the country according to national and international laws. The coalition feels that the existing legal framework is not sufficient to protect the rights of children of convicted criminals.”

The CRAC mentioned a writ petition filed on December 14 in the High Court seeking directives to ensure adequate food, a hygienic environment and other basic needs of children following a recent news report about a 10-month-old child living in a condemned cell of Habiganj District Jail with its mother, who has been sentenced to death. 

After a hearing on the writ, the court issued a ruling seeking to know why a regulation should not be formulated to ensure the physical and mental development of children living with their mothers in condemned cells.

The coalition also noted another news article which reported that a woman and her child had been sent to jail in Agailjhara upazila of Barisal upon failure to pay loan instalments. 

Quoting news published in the media, the CRAC said condemned cells had a dimension of 10 feet by 10 feet, without adequate light or direct water supply.  Moreover, bright bulbs stay on all night long, and mothers on death row get the same food as people given rigorous imprisonment, according to the statement.

The coalition demanded the creation of necessary laws, regulations or policies to protect the rights and ensure the physical and mental development of children in such situations.

It also urged infrastructural development to create a conducive environment for the development of children in prisons as well as the provision of adequate food in considering their age and nutritional needs.