No haircut in jail: Kerala court approves prisoner’s request

A Kerala court issued an order to the Kollam district jail to prevent a prisoner’s haircut after he filed a petition to dodge the mandatory condition in jail, reported News18 citing Kaumudi Online on Thursday.
According to the report, the accused, who was in prison in a sexual assault case, was unwilling to get his hair cut because he wanted to qualify for a role in a Tamil film.
The 38-year-old RS Jyothi, who used to work in Tamil movies, was remanded 13 days ago and was in judicial custody. He was reportedly growing his hair for a movie role. However, he was arrested by Kollam Railway Police based on a woman’s complaint alleging sexual assault during a train journey, reported News18.
During the judicial custody, Kollam jail authorities asked him to cut his hair because of mandatory protocol for prisoners. He tried his best to prevent his haircut, but jail authorities were adamant.
Later, he took the help of his wife to opt for a legal battle to save his hair. His wife hired a lawyer who filed a petition to the Kerala High Court on his behalf in the matter. The accused person’s case was presented by advocate Venu J Pillai, Vysakh V Nair and S Sreejith.
The petition against the prisoner’s haircut was heard by Kollam Chief Judicial Magistrate KV Naina. After hearing the petition, Magistrate KV Naina agreed to Jyothi’s request and issued an order directing Kollam jail authorities not to cut his hair.
While announcing the order, the court maintained that the accused should not miss his acting opportunity and, hence, must be allowed to keep his neck-long hair. The prosecutor had cited the jail annual to present that it is mandatory for every prisoner to get a haircut in jail.