It was reported in Nov that a male prisoner who was sharing a cell with 3 others was seriously and sexually assaulted by his cellmates sometime between April and May. He had apparently been punched and kicked until he suffered severe fractures and internal injuries, including to the ribs, liver and breast-bone. The victim had allegedly been sodomised and forced to have oral sex. The injuries were apparently so serious that he had to be warded in hospital for 2 months. The 3 suspects are now facing criminal charges in the Courts.
All prisons face inmate management issues but this incident is straight out of prison movies like “The Shawshank Redemption”. The KPIs under MHA (p 132) show that the incidence of assault cases in prisons appears to be increasing somewhat over the last 3 years from 15 to 22 and now 26 cases per 10,000 inmates.
What precautions are taken in deciding cell-sharing arrangements? How was it that the incidents continued undetected? What measures are in place to detect and pre-empt serious incidents of this nature?
