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| Fellow prisoners say California inmate died of neglect |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 03/15/2004 |
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Officers and medical staff at Corcoran State Prison failed to provide food or emergency medical care to a 72-year-old inmate who died of malnutrition earlier this year, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday, quoting the accounts of other prisoners. Days before Khem Singh died last month, the inmates said, they told prison officers his condition was grave. They said they also filed formal complaints protesting his treatment. When they got no response, they wrote to state Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, but she didn't receive their letter until after Singh died on Feb. 16. "Mr. Singh has not left his cell to go to eat, not once," one inmate told Romero. "They do not bring him any food. None. I smuggle bread back. Mr. Singh is gentle, polite. I am ashamed it took me so long to speak out." Romero provided the prisoners' accounts to the Times on the condition that their names be kept confidential. She accused prison staff of allowing Singh, who was said to be depressed over his 2001 conviction for sexual molestation, to starve himself to death. The Indian-born Sikh priest had maintained his innocence. "Here is a guy who's clinically depressed and starving himself, and there's no indication in the logbook that medical staff is responding to his needs," said Romero, who chairs the state Senate's prison oversight committee. "No one went to his cell to check on him, despite repeated concerns from inmates and some officers that he was wasting away." California prison policy requires that corrections officers and medical staff visit everyday with any inmate taking part in a hunger strike. If an inmate's physical condition begins to deteriorate, they can be force-fed. Prison officials acknowledge Singh wasn't monitored daily, but they say he hadn't officially declared a hunger strike. Martin Hoshino, who heads the central California prison's investigative services unit, said officials were interviewing inmates. "The original shape of this case was medical in nature, but recent information and developments suggest that it may be more serious than that," he said. "We're now moving very quickly to collect all the pertinent information." |
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