TN has highest number of detenues in India, says NCRB data

CHENNAI:
A total of 2,096 Indian prison inmates consisting of 2,039 Males and 57 Females were confined in various jails in the country with Tamil nadu recording the highest number of detenues.

According to National Crime Records Bureau data at the end the year 2017 which was released on Monday, the state has reported 810 detenues, the highest in the country, followed by Gujarat (345) and Karnataka (211) accounting for 38.6%, 16.5%, 10.1% of the total Detenues inmates respectively.

These three states have contributed to 65.2 per cent of total Detenues. Nearly 54pc Detenues ((1,122)) were in the age group 30 years to below 50 years  followed by 40.6 per cent ((850) ) in the age-group of 18 years to below 30 years.

The report said of the 16.55 lakh inmates jailed in 2017, 41,378 languish in tamil nadu prisons. The report states that the number of inmates in the prisons has increased by 17.02 per cent during 2012-2017 (from 3,85,135 inmates in December 31, 2012 to 4,50,696 inmates in
December 31, 2017).

Among the inmates, number of convicts during 2012-2017 has increased by 8.89 per cent whereas the number of undertrial inmates has increased by 21.13 per cent. Also, the number of detenues has increased by 11.13 per cent during the same period. The report also states that Tamil nadu has 71 of the 2,250 foreign undertrails languishing in its jail. The 2,250 undertrails belong to nationalities of Bangladesh, Nepal, Nigeria, Myanmarese, Chinese, japanese, canadians, South East asian nations, Sri lankan and Pakistanis among others.

The report also states that total of 396 convicts were lodged in various jails of the country for committing offences against Public Tranquility (Rioting only) under Indian Penal Code (IPC) as on December 31, 2017. Maharashtra has reported the highest number of convicts (129) followed by Tamil Nadu (60) and Haryana (29) accounting for 32.58 per cent, 15.15 per cent and 7.32 per cent of the total convicted inmates lodged under offence against Public tranquility.

The report also states that a total of 498 convicts were lodged in various jails of the country for committing offences against SC/ST-related acts under Special and Local Laws (SLL) as on December 31, 2017. Uttar Pradesh has reported the highest number of convicts (211) followed by Rajasthan (61) and Tamil Nadu (53), accounting for 42.37 per cent, 12.25 per cent and 10.64 per cent of the total convicted inmates lodged under SLL crimes which are specific to crime against SC/ST respectively.