NEW DELHI: Of the total 5.30 lakh inmates lodged in prisons across the country as of Dec 31, 2023, as many as 9,095 inmates (1.7%) were reported to be battling mental illness. Of these, 3,722 (40.9%) were convicts, 5,293 (58.2%) were undertrials and 66, detenues.This data in the ‘Prison Statistics India’ report 2023 of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) brings into focus the mental health issues of those behind bars. A total of 9,084 (1.6%) inmates were reported to be facing mental illness out of the total 5.73 lakh in 2022.Data from the time when the Covid-19 pandemic was keeping the world on the edge (starting 2020) shows that 7,524 (1.5%) of the total 4.88 lakh inmates that year were battling mental illness, while 9,180 (1.7%) out of 5.54 lakh inmates did so in 2021.Before the pandemic, 7,394 (1.5%) out of 4.78 lakh inmates across jails in 2019 were facing the issue. This number was 6,623 (1.4%) out of 4.66 lakh inmates in 2018; 6,634 (1.5%) out of 4.50 lakh in 2017; and 6,013 (1.4%) out of 4.33 lakh inmates in 2016.The report also revealed that of the 1,972 prisoners who died in judicial custody in 2023, nearly 91% (1,787) died on account of natural causes, with 1,729 (nearly 97%) deaths happening due to illness and 58 (around 3%) due to ageing. Of those who died of illness, heart problems accounted for 514 cases (29.7%), lung-related ailments for 276 (16%) and liver-related ailments for 102 deaths (5.9%).There were 150 deaths (7.6%) due to un-natural causes in 2023, with death by suicide (96) being the predominant cause, accounting for 64% of cases. Hanging accounted for the lives of 88 prisoners who died by suicide. In 2022, there were 159 un-natural deaths of inmates, of whom 119 died by suicide.The data showed that in 2023, the number of deaths in prisons decreased by 1.2% to 1,972 from 1,995 in 2022. However, the number of deaths due to natural causes increased marginally (0.8%) from 1,773 in 2022 to 1,787 in 2023. On the other hand, the number of un-natural deaths decreased by 5.7% from 159 in 2022 to 150 in 2023.Of the 96 suicides in 2023, Haryana and Punjab reported the highest number (13 each), followed by Gujarat (11) and Odisha (6).Among the un-natural deaths in 2023, there were 12 deaths due to accidents, followed by murder by inmates (8), deaths due to assault by outside elements (1) and “others” (33). Go to Source
