Indian prisons forcing lower-caste inmates to clean toilets
Prisoners from marginalized castes were allegedly segregated and assigned toilet cleaning and manual scavenging despite laws prohibiting caste-based prison labor
NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — Prisoners from India’s historically marginalized castes are allegedly being segregated and forced to clean toilets and perform manual scavenging in several prisons in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, exposing the persistence of caste-based labor practices even inside state institutions.
The allegations involve central prisons in Madurai, Tiruchirappalli and Palayamkottai, where inmates from marginalized communities were allegedly assigned sanitation work because of their caste. Some prison blocks and barracks were also allegedly set aside specifically for these prisoners.
At Madurai and Palayamkottai prisons, inmates housed in those sections were allegedly required to clean around 150 toilets inside cells and around barracks, according to a public interest petition filed by lawyer K.R. Raja. The petitioner said the prisons had only two sanitation workers despite overcrowding.
The allegations echo a centuries-old caste practice in India in which Dalits, formerly regarded as “untouchables” under the Hindu caste hierarchy, have been forced into occupations involving human waste and sanitation.
Manual scavenging — the handling or removal of human excreta by hand — is prohibited under Indian law, while caste discrimination is constitutionally outlawed. Yet the practice has persisted in different forms despite successive laws intended to eradicate it.
Similar discrimination was alleged at a women’s prison in Tiruchirappalli. Some female prisoners who had been approved to work at a prison-operated fuel station as part of a rehabilitation program were instead allegedly made to clean toilets and sanitation areas at the facility.
Tamil Nadu prison authorities have denied that such practices take place.
The allegations have now prompted judicial intervention. The Madras High Court on Monday ordered senior judicial and legal services officials in the three districts to personally inspect the prisons and determine whether inmates are being subjected to caste-based segregation and sanitation work.
Officials were directed to speak with prisoners, examine CCTV footage and submit reports to the court. Prison superintendents were separately ordered to respond to the allegations.
The case follows a landmark 2024 ruling by India’s Supreme Court that struck down provisions in prison manuals that allowed inmates to be segregated or assigned work according to caste.
The country’s highest court found that assigning cleaning and sweeping to marginalized-caste prisoners while reserving cooking and other work for prisoners from supposedly higher castes perpetuated untouchability inside prisons.
Raja said he had raised concerns with prison authorities as early as 2025 and sought action against officials responsible for discriminatory practices.
He has also sought preservation of CCTV footage that he says could establish whether prisoners were made to clean toilets and drainage systems.
The High Court investigation will now examine whether caste practices outlawed by India’s Constitution, prohibited under anti-manual-scavenging legislation and explicitly condemned by the Supreme Court have continued inside Tamil Nadu’s prisons.
The case is scheduled to return to court on Oct. 4.
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