5,049 deaths in jail in last 3 years

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has registered 427 cases relating to alleged deaths of accused in police custody and 5,049 cases pertaining to deaths in judicial custody in the last three years.
Junior minister for home G Kishan Reddy, in reply to a question in Lok Sabha on Tuesday, said cases of deaths in police custody registered by NHRC in 2018-19 were 136 and of those in judicial custody, 1,797. The corresponding number of cases involving alleged deaths in police custody and judicial custody in 2017-18 were 146 and 1,636 respectively and in 2016-17, 145 and 1,616 respectively. The minister said NHRC had recommen- ded disciplinary action against 20 erring public servants during the last three years in such cases. However, no record of the cases of conviction is maintained by the commission. NHRC also carried out visits to various prisons from time to time for monitoring the conditions of undertrials and prisoners.