For Kabir (like countless others), India’s caste system and prison system are both disastrous institutions that he must navigate around—not through—to find true justice for himself and his mother, Amma. The prison system, which is allegedly meant to bring justice to society, does just the opposite in Born Behind Bars, because of a combination of incomplete policies, incompetent employees, and class-based prejudice. Although class-based prejudice exists everywhere, it’s particularly intense where Kabir lives because, as the novel notes, low-caste people are much more often unfairly imprisoned as a result of prejudice against them. Furthermore, they often can’t afford bail, lawyers, or trials, resulting in cases like Amma’s, in which she’s held and essentially serves time for a crime she didn’t commit simply because she couldn’t pay for a chance to defend herself and prove her innocence in court.

Although policies dictate maximum sentence lengths, the maximum age of child inmates, and more, enforcement of these policies is poor, which the novel also illustrates. First, the warden doesn’t notice that Kabir is three years past the age when he should have left the prison; this shows gross negligence and incompetence on the part of the prison officials.