The Ten-Year File

Appalling conditions that obtain in our prisons have never been fully exposed to public gaze. Here for the first time we learn in gory detail tortures inflicted on hapless suspects to extract information, indignities including rape perpetrated on women undertrials and convicts, the sodomizing of young boys by older criminals and warders and the agonies of men sentenced to death awaiting their final tryst with destiny The grim narrative is enlivened with stories of good times that can be had by prisoners who can pay for their Scotch, Champagne, imported cigarettes and young girls. Kumkum Chadha's work is based on extensive interviews with inmates of hundreds of prisons and backed by factual data. It should be compulsory reading for all interested in improving conditions in our many prisons.