With suicide in prisons, especially by hanging, proving to be the major cause of unnatural death of prisoners in jails across the country, a panel on prison reforms has recommended that the Supreme Court direct states to have suicide-proof barracks with collapsible material. In the period between 2017 and 2021, out of the 817 unnatural deaths reported in prisons, 660 died by suicide, with hanging being the preferred mode.
The report was made public by the Supreme Court on Tuesday . In September 2018, the Court formed the panel headed by former Supreme Court judge, justice (retired) Amitava Roy along with two others, to study the issues affecting prisons across the country.
One of the focus areas of the panel was unnatural deaths. It found a steady rise in the number of deaths of inmates in prisons, due to natural and unnatural causes. Between 2017 and 2021, a total of 8,198 prisoners died due to old age or illness, exposing the complete lack of emergency medical care for old and sick inmates. The corresponding figure of unnatural deaths during the five years was 817 of which suicide figured as the leading cause followed by accidental deaths (46) and murder (41).
Data from the Prison Statistics of India (PSI) 2021 prepared by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) suggests that the number of deaths (natural and unnatural causes) in prisons is steadily rising. The total death toll in prisons rose from 1,671 in year 2017 to 2,116 in 2021.
Commenting on unnatural deaths, the panel’s report said: “There is a need to identify potential hanging and anchoring points within the existing design of prison infrastructure and to build suicide-resistant cells/barracks with the use of collapsible material .”
It added: “Death in prisons is one of the worst violations committed against human rights and dignity in civilized society ….” The panel found Uttar Pradesh reporting 101 suicides over the five years, the highest among states with the two other states reporting large numbers being Punjab (63) and West Bengal (60). Among the union territories, Delhi alone saw 40 suicides.
Focusing on the remedial measures, the committee, also comprising Director General of Tihar Prisons and inspector general of Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) recommended that the top court direct every prison in the country to have a suicide prevention programme.
The committee also recommended bringing all inmates under the government’s health insurance ambit and to mandatorily issue Ayushman cards for medical treatment to all existing and new inmates.
The issue of violence in jail was also discussed . The panel was particularly disturbed to note that several unnatural deaths did not have any specific cause. The report flagged this finding to highlight lack of “proper and time bound inquiries” of deaths occurring inside jails. It recommended a centralised inmate complaint helpline with a phone booth to be set up in each barrack.
To prevent prisons from becoming a “breeding ground” for violence and “recruitment centres for criminals” the justice Roy committee recommended mandatory segregation of undertrials and convicts and further separation of first-time offenders from hardened criminals among undertrials. It recommended such segregation not only inside jail but also during production in courts, visit to hospitals or intra-jail movements.
The panel noted that when violence breaks out inside jail, the prison staff is so understaffed that one warder, equipped with a baton/stick, fails to be effective against 100 inmates. The panel recommended body-worn cameras for each warder and a centralised alarm with touchpoints in every cell/barrack.
The panel found a huge gap between various sanctioned posts and actual working force in prisons and recommended all vacant posts to be immediately filled up. As per the Prison Statistics 2021, as on December 31, 2021 for a total of 5,54,034 inmates lodged in various jails of the country, the actual strength of executive jail staff, including officers was 54,955 in various prisons while correctional staff, including counsellors/psychologists were only 886 for the 1,319 prisons across the country.
The panel has submitted a series of reports since 2020 highlighting other aspects such as overcrowding in prisons, condition of women and children in jails, transgender prisoners, death row convicts, semi-open or open jails, and reforms in juvenile correctional homes. These recommendations are yet to be dealt with by the Court. The panel recommended that the top court direct all states to setup an oversight committee headed by their chief secretary to monitor the implementation of these suggestions.
