Indira Ranamagar: The woman who helped 2,000 Nepali kids out of prison

Indira Ranamagar, a woman working for 33 long years for the welfare of prisoners and their children, said the system in Nepal as a country is not designed for poor people and that her fight for social security and basic human rights, especially for children, will continue.

Ranamagar is the founder of the Prisoner’s Association (PA) Nepal, under which she rescues children who are forced to live with their incarcerated parents in prison. The majority of the children at her three homes are girls who, after being rescued, are provided the opportunity to get an education.

Oftentimes, when people are sent to prison, they have no choice but to bring their children with them, because otherwise, they’ll end up homeless.

Indira runs 15 residential homes with 500 children and a few schools all over Nepal and aspires to make it pan Nepal. For 33 years, she has been helping children from small and poor communities and has so far rescued over 2,000 children.

When WION visited one of her residential homes in Kathmandu, she said, "Crimes happen due to poverty."

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"A lot of innocent children I rescued from prison. Even during the earthquake, kids were left out. During COVID, I took several children into my care. The government should have some provisions to look after them, but we do not have that in Nepal. This is my biggest fight, "Ranamagar told WION.

"My heart hurts to see innocent children forced to live behind bars without proper nutritious food and care with their convicted parents. When I saw it for the first time, it was a heartbreaking moment and was a turning point in my life," she added.

According to the US Department of State Report on Nepal, some facilities held pretrial detainees alongside convicted prisoners. Due to a lack of adequate juvenile detention facilities, authorities sometimes incarcerated pretrial child detainees with adults or allowed children to remain in jails with their incarcerated parents. Under the law, children should only be kept in juvenile reform homes and not in prison.

Indira grew up in extreme poverty and had to fight to be able to go to school. Having faced challenges as a young girl, she decided to help other people who have had tough lives.

However, she believes she has had a privileged life, "When I look back at my life, I feel I was very privileged after looking at these children behind bars. Even though I did not get an education, I learned from nature. That is what I want to give to my kids. "

As she has been working for prisoners' children and vulnerable people, Indira is now fighting for their citizenship.

"Many mothers of these kids do not have citizenship even after living for years in Nepal. So, how can a child get citizenship? Many of my children have a good education and degrees but no citizenship."

To further help children pursue their careers, Indira has given her identity to some children.

According to the US Department of State report, an estimated 6.7 million individuals lacked citizenship documentation, although the majority of these would be eligible for citizenship under local law.

Jennifer Ranamagar, a 17-year-old girl who was born in a prison, was taken into Indira's care at one day old.

"I have grown up in this organisation since my childhood. First, when I opened my eyes, I saw Indira amma (mother), I was happy but certainly, don't know how I felt as a child. Later, as I grew up, she told me she is not my mother and at that moment I was sad. But no matter if she is my mother or not, she loves me as her own. I am proud of Indira Amma. She still takes care of many other children," Jennifer told WION.

Ranamagar's idea is to also focus on maintaining the relationship between the children and parents. She visits prisons, occasionally.

Indira says she doesn’t receive any help or funds from the government and raises funds through international organisations, individual donors, and friends.
 

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