5,221 persons died in judicial custody in past three years, says Centre

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs on Wednesday informed the Rajya Sabha that 5,221 people died in judicial custody in India in the past three years. As many as 348 people died in police custody, it added.

Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai made this statement while replying to a question by Bharatiya Janata Party MP Ramkumar Verma.

Uttar Pradesh recorded the most deaths in judicial custody (1,295), followed by Madhya Pradesh (441), West Bengal (407) and Bihar (375).

Gujarat recorded the most deaths in police custody (42), followed by Madhya Pradesh (34), Maharashtra (27) and Uttar Pradesh (23).

The Union Territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Lakshadweep and Ladakh reported zero deaths in both police and judicial custody in the past three years, the data showed. Further, Goa, Nagaland, Sikkim, Daman and Diu and Puducherry also did not record any deaths in police custody during this period, although they registered deaths in judicial custody.

Overall, 1,940 custodial deaths were reported in 2020-2021, while there were 1,696 deaths in 2019-2020 and 1,933 deaths in 2018-2019.

In reply to a separate question on Wednesday, Rai answered in the negative when asked whether there have been reports of increasing deaths in police custody. “No such increasing trend has been noticed,” he said.

The minister also noted that police and prisons…

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