Suicide major cause of unnatural deaths among prisoners: SC panel

New Delhi, Aug 31: (PTI) Suicide is a major cause of the 817 unnatural deaths reported in jails across the country between 2017 and 2021, the Supreme Court Committee on Prison Reforms has told the apex court while emphasising the need for building suicide resistant barracks.
The apex court-appointed committee, headed by former top court judge Justice (retd) Amitava Roy, has said that out of the 817 unnatural deaths, 660 were suicides with Uttar Pradesh recording the highest number of suicides at 101 during this period.
“There is a need to identify potential hanging and anchoring points within the existing designs of prison infrastructure and to build suicide resistant cells/barracks with the use of collapsible material to replace the former,” the committee has said in the final synopsis of reports submitted in the apex court.
The final synopsis of reports dated December 27, 2022 contains nine chapters, including on unnatural deaths in prisons, death row convicts and violence in Indian jails.
In September 2018, the top court had constituted a three-member committee headed by Justice (retd) Roy to look at issues involving jail reforms and make recommendations on several aspects, including overcrowding in prisons.
In the chapter titled “unnatural deaths in prisons”, the committee has said torture in custody or custodial death flouts the basic rights of citizens and is an “affront to human dignity”.
It said the report is based on data provided within the Prison Statistics India (PSI) report from 2017 to 2021, published by the NCRB.
“The committee analysed PSI data pertaining to deaths (natural & unnatural) in India’s prisons and observed that the number of custodial deaths has seen a steady rise since 2019, and 2021 has recorded the highest number of deaths so far, suicide (80 per cent) being the major cause of unnatural deaths,” the report said.
It said in five years starting from 2017 to 2021, there were 462 deaths on account of old age and 7,736 prisoners died due to illness.
“Out of a total number of 817 unnatural deaths in India’s prisons between 2017-2021, there were 660 suicides and 41 murders in the prisons across India from 2017 to 2021,” it said.
The committee said 46 deaths were related to accidental deaths during this period whereas seven prisoners each died due to assault by outside elements and negligence or excess by jail personnel respectively.
“Uttar Pradesh has recorded highest number of suicides (101) in the country during the last five years i.e., from year 2017 to 2021 followed by the states of Punjab and West Bengal where 63 and 60 prisoners committed suicide respectively. Amongst Union Territories, Delhi recorded the highest 40 suicides during the last five years from 2017- 2021,” it said.
“Suicide is a major cause of unnatural deaths among prisoners. The jail staff must be trained to recognise warning signs and must devise appropriate mechanisms to safeguard life in prisons.”
The committee said the jail staff should be regularly provided the requisite training to recognise “signs of depression and aberrant behaviour”, which may include suicidal intent and provide psychological first aid to prisoners. (PTI)