Former convict accuses Goa jail staff of misappropriation

The State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has issued notice to the authorities of Goa's central jail after a former convict accused them of misappropriating money meant to be deposited in the compensation fund for the victims' families.

The notice by the SHRC directs the superintendent of the Aguada jail to respond within a month to charges made by Suhas Joshi, formerly convicted of double murder.

By prison regulations, 50 percent of the wages earned by convicts accused of body crimes are to be collected and handed over to the family of victims.

Joshi, in his complaint, has claimed that instead of handing over the money to the victims' families, the money was siphoned off by the prison authorities.

"Fifty percent of my earned wages, which was supposed to (be) deposited to my victims' survival (account), was misappropriated by the prison administration of the state of Goa," Joshi said in his complaint to the SHRC Jan 13.

After the compensation scheme was introduced in the handicraft unit of the prison, Joshi claimed he had earned wages for two years that was deducted by the prison authorities for depositing it in the compensation account but they never did that. - IANS