Rahul is four years old. Like other children his age, he loves to play with a ball. With every fall, he squeals in joy. But his friends are different — they are the adult male undertrials of Tihar jail.

Behind the formidable iron gates of the high-security prison, Rahul has earned the distinction of being the only one who stays with his father — children in jail stay with their mothers. And he is certainly the apple of the eye here.

The boy is fond of all the “uncles” inside the prison. He is never alone when he wants to play and shares his father’s bed when he is tired.

Rahul has been staying with his undertrial father Sonu since February. Sonu, who is being tried at a Tis Hazari court in connection with a criminal case, had requested the court last year to allow his son to stay with him, contending that there was nobody to look after the child. His mother had walked off after Sonu was arrested.

Finding the situation extraordinary, the court, on “humanitarian grounds”, had allowed his plea. Rahul, who was only three years old then, was lodged with Sonu in Jail 1.

Since then, Tihar has been the home for the kid, who uses the clothes and toys donated by some voluntary organisations.

Rahul’s primary education also involves his father’s fellow prisoners, who meticulously teach him his alphabets and numbers and even tell him fairy tales.

“He will soon go to an NGO-run crèche to get a formal education,” says a Tihar Jail official.

The matter of his future stay will be brought to the court’s notice again after a couple of years, he added, as the law allows children to remain with their parents inside a jail only upto a certain age.