Gap between definition and practice of RI: Experts

Colva: As Margao court on Monday announced a double life sentence to Vikat Bhagat for the rape and murder of an Irish tourist in 2017, the verdict led to discussions in the legal circle raising some questions. Basically, what does rigorous imprisonment entail?

While rigorous imprisonment requires convicts to do hard labour as part of their sentence, legal experts and prison officials pointed out a gap between the definition and practice.

Retired sessions judge P V Kamat said rigorous imprisonment is labour-intensive. “Although the sentence demands hard work, convicts are neither entrusted with any work nor granted the privileges available to other prisoners,” said Kamat, adding that this is in accordance with the prison rules.

Senior advocate Cleofato Coutinho said conventionally, rigorous imprisonment involved tasks such as digging or breaking stones, but such practices, in the present day, are rarely implemented. “I have not seen cases of prisoners sentenced to rigorous imprisonment who were actually engaged in hard labour,” he said.

On the other hand, public prosecutor Jerry Costa, who led the prosecution during the trial, said there are various departments in Colvale Central jail where convicts are assigned work. They have units of carpentry, tailoring, and candle-making.

“Those sentenced to rigorous imprisonment are generally allotted tasks in these units,” said Costa.