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Indian prisons in a dire state: 7 in 10 undertrials, 1 in 3 Dalit or tribal Seven in 10 of the 478,600 people in prison in Indian jails are under trial, according to the 2019 National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data on prisons
Anil* (26) and Suresh* (36), both from scheduled caste (SC) or dalit communities, have been under trial for a case of attempt to murder in western Maharashtra since November 2016. The case has cost them lakhs of rupees, and the nearly five months they spent in jail cost them regular employment and economic stress--a setback they are yet to recover from. They got bail in late March 2017 but the case continues--they claim it is false and was filed after they had a run-in with a dominant caste group in their locality. Anil and Suresh’s case is
somewhat typical--37% of undertrials spent between three months and a year in jail in 2019, without even having been convicted of a crime. These long periods of incarceration can not only lead the prisoners and their families financially and emotionally devastated, but can deal a long-lasting blow to their chances of employment and societal reintegration, leaving some groups susceptible to profiling and subsequently charged with crimes repeatedly. Seven in 10 of the 478,600 people in prison in Indian jails are under trial, according to the 2019 National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data on prisons released in August 2020. Only 14 countries in the world have a higher proportion of undertrial or remand prisoners. A majority of India’s undertrials, like Anil and Suresh, are from marginalised castes. In the 17 years to 2019, nearly two in three (64%) on average were from the SCs (21.7%), scheduled tribes (STs or adivasi communities, 12.3%), and other backward classes (OBCs, 30%). Further, more than one in five (21.5%) undertrials were Muslim, the highest proportion among religious minorities. (Data on inmates’ caste and religion were not released for the year 2016.) Caste prejudices and over-policing of certain communities are important social factors behind the significant presence of marginalised caste groups in jails, experts told IndiaSpend. When exacerbated by poverty, the high cost of litigation, and the poor quality of free legal aid, the result is that social inequities in society get replicated inside of prisons...Read More