The State of Mind of an Under-trial

Convicts we know they have been proven guilty and have been sentenced to a term of imprisonment. They know what they need to do through their term in jail. But there always remains a bunch of people who are neither proven convicts nor are they proven innocent but the charges levied against them makes it mandatory that they are in custody of the police till the trial is in progress. Imagine how one must feel when in jail even for sometime during the trial but later is proven innocent. Being in jail is very traumatic when you know that you are innocent but it has been not been proven. You are a socially labeled criminal even if you have been in jail for sometime regardless of you being innocent.

The psychological effect that a short term in jail as an under trail has on a person’s mind is unimaginable. People may go into irrecoverable depression. They could develop suicidal tendency unable to bear the social stigma. They loose friends and they start feeling isolated.

They loose their career and they face rejection almost everywhere because they have been in jail or they have been labeled “under trials” once. Sometimes, people who have been under trials, tend to develop criminal minds after they have seen how it is in jail. They become fearless and aggressive. And they also understand the judiciary and the law pretty well so they come to know about the loopholes as well. Under trials need a lot of counseling so that their mindset does not become negative. Most under trial victims do not rust the law and the judiciary because they had been wrongly blamed for a deed that they did not do. This is very dangerous for maintaining the sanctity of the judicial system. These very victims of wrong implementation of laws go against the law at a later stage in their lives. A lot of them become full fledged criminals and the judicial system has to be blamed for it. In most of the countries, trials take years and years because of the laid back attitude of the protectors of the law. And the under-trial is a victim to their laziness and incapability of making judgments. Some people who have been under-trials for miniscule of reasons have been behind the bars as an under-trial for several years. So how does it make a difference to them and their families if they are proven innocent at the end of the long trial? They have anyways been in jail for no reason. The governments should compensate the under-trials if they are finally proven innocent and let go. The government should restore their life back. But practically this seems to be impossible because one can restore the lost career of an under-trail but cannot compensate the trauma that he has gone through while he was rotting in jail without any reason.

To be proven guilty and serving a life term is much better than being under trial for no reason.

Linus Orakles
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