Abstract

Background: Death in custody is often associated with allegations of physical abuse by the police or jail authorities. Questions are always raised about violation of fundamental rights of a prisoner. Aims: To study different epidemiological and medico legal aspects of custodial deaths. Material and Methods: This is a five year retrospective study based on medicolegal records of custodial deaths. Results: All the cases were male. As per manner of death 86.5% of cases were natural deaths while 13.5% of cases died due to unnatural causes. Age group of these cases were between 19 to 90 years. Maximum number of cases (29.8%) is between 51-60 years. Majority of deaths occurred in the hospital accounting for 97.29% of cases except one hanging death which occurred in police station. Majority of cases (91.9%) were in jail custody. In this study most common cause of death is chronic kidney disease which is found in 21.6% of cases. With respect to conviction status, 78.4% of cases were under trial prisoners while rest 21.6% were convicted. Conclusion: Majority of deaths occurred due to natural causes. Proper care should be taken to reduce morbidity and mortality of prisoners. Key message: Prior health checkup and timely medical treatment is needed to prevent custodial deaths. Maintenance of proper hygiene and steps to reduce overcrowding of jails should be done to curb the morbidity and mortality.

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