251 found HIV+ in Faridkot jail

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana Hight Court has taken suo-motu cognzance of a report from one its judges regarding 251 inmates of the Faridkot district jail. The prisoners were tested positive for HIV in a random screening held in March this year. The state government of Punjab has been asked to submit a response by August 4. Inspecting judge justice Lisa Gill wrote to the acting chief justice asking to examine whether the inmates could be screened at the time of admission. She also asked to move the prisoners to the antiretroviral therapy centre under armed escort. The judge's report states that not only the timely treatment to the affected prisoners was in question, but also the absence of the testing for the communicable diseases at the time of admission was serious. Smuggling of drugs and inferior surveillance cameras were also found mentioned in the report. "The observation home at Faridkot for juveniles in conflict with law also had inmates in the habit of drugs," the report says.