Punjab's prisons are bursting at the seams, and the consequences are no longer confined to administrative discomfort. With jail occupancy standing 81% above capacity, overcrowding has become a serious public health risk and a stark indictment of the province's criminal justice system.

More than 71,000 prisoners and under-trial inmates are packed into 45 jails designed for fewer than 39,000. In several facilities, inmates are housed at three times their intended capacity, with barracks so congested that........

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