117 jail deaths a year in AP

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy
11th Nov 2008

When it comes to the number of prisoner deaths, the state stands only next to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
On an average, 117 prisoners die in jails in a year in the state according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
Deaths in jails are classified as natural deaths and unnatural deaths. Unnatural deaths include suicides, execution, murder by inmates, death due to firing, death due to negligence and death due to excesses by jail personnel.
According to the NCRB, around 1,423 prisoners died in 2007 in jails of which 80 were due to unnatural causes.
Uttar Pradesh leads has the highest number of deaths (180) followed by Bihar (164). Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka are behind Andhra Pradesh.
Tamil Nadu has highest number of suicides out of total number of 62 in the entire country. Only two suicides took place in the state.
A jail official said, “Most of the deaths are due to illhealth. Doctors in jail dispensaries are not available in some of sub-jails. Prisoners die of cardiac arrest by the time they are shifted to hospitals. There are no such problems in central jails.” “As per the prison manual, the director, health, has to visit the jail. But in the state, the department officials seldom visit.”