Meena was infected by chickenpox, measles and the mumps in Prison. She was born there. She has spent her entire life in prison and will probably spend the rest of her childhood there as well.
Meena has never committed a crime, but her mother, Shirin Gul, is a convicted Serial Killer serving a life sentence, and under Afghan prison policy she can keep her daughter with her until she turns 18.
Meena was even conceived in prison, and has never been out, not even for a brief visit. She has never seen a television set, she said, and has no idea what the world outside the walls looks like.
Her plight is extreme, but not unique. In the women’s wing of the Nangarhar provincial prison here, she is one of 36 Children jailed with their mothers, among 42 women in all. But none of the other children have spent such a long time in custody; most of their mothers’ sentences are much shorter.
Locking up small children with their mothers is a common practice in Afghanistan, especially when there are no other close relatives, or fathers are absent or estranged. Child advocates estimate that there are hundreds of imprisoned Afghan children whose only crime is having a convicted mother.
Source – Nytimes.com
