Stats IQ: Custodial Violence in India

• Custodial deaths: Custodial deaths in India may refer to the deaths of persons in police custody and also to the deaths of persons in judicial custody while undergoing trial or serving a sentence.
  • According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), a total of 11,419 custodial deaths were reported in India between 2016-17 and 2021-22.
  • Out of the total, Uttar Pradesh reported the highest number of fatalities (2,580) among all the States, while Tamil Nadu reported the highest number among the southern States.
• Low conviction rate: Between 2001 and 2018, 1,727 persons died in police custody, but only 26 policemen were convicted for such deaths.
• Rights violations: Apart from custodial deaths, more than 2,000 human rights violation cases were also recorded against the police between 2000 and 2018. And only 344 policemen were convicted in those cases.

Prison Statistics 2021

• ‘Prison Statistics Report in India, 2021’ was published by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
• Key highlights of the report:
  • Total number of prisoners: As of December 31, 2020, there were 5,54,034 prisoners in India. 5,31,025 were male prisoners, 22,918 were female prisoners and 91 were transgender
  • Occupancy rate: The occupancy rate in Indian prisons was 130.2%, which means that the prisons were overcrowded.
  • Convicts and undertrials: Of the total prisoners, 77% were undertrials, which means that they were awaiting trial or final judgment. The remaining 33% were convicts.
  • Age group: The majority of the prisoners (43.6%) belonged to the age group of 18-30 years.
  • Education level: About 28% of the prisoners were illiterate, while only 6.4% had completed graduation or higher education.

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