Happiest birthday in jail? Video of prisoner celebrating goes viral

The `birthday boy` has said that jail authorities took Rs 1 lakh from him to arrange for the celebration and even made the video for him.

New Delhi: A video of a prisoner celebrating his birthday inside a UP jail has gone viral. In it, Shivendra Singh can be seen cutting a cake made with his photo on it - and with candles on it.

Surprises make for the happiest birthday but for Shivendra - an inmate of a jail in Faizabad, the 'surprise' cost him Rs 1 lakh. The celebration took place on July 23.

"All things were made available to me by Jailor Vinay Kumar. His staff made my video. Rs 1 lakh was taken from me for it," Shivendra was quoted as saying by news agency ANI, adding that facilities were taken back the very next day. The details of the facilities provided to the 'birthday boy' though are not yet known.

Reaction to the video, which quickly became viral on social media, ranged from people blasting the law and order situation in UP to others questioning CM Yogi Adityanath's vision of making his state crime-free. Interestingly, there were also a few who said there is nothing wrong in treating prisoners as human beings and allowing them some leeway on special occasions. Even then, the charge that jail authorities took money to organise a celebration is being widely seen as an extremely callous approach towards professional duties.