Background: As per the Oxford dictionary custody means “protective care or guardianship of someone or something”. In the legal parlance Custody is defined as any point in time when a person’s freedom of movement has been denied by law enforcement agencies, such as during transport prior to booking, or during arrest, prosecution, sentencing, and correctional confinement. Study design: It’s a Cross sectional retrospective analysis. Material and Method: Retrospective analysis of 90 cases of custodial deaths that have occurred in various Police custody of Andhra Pradesh. The cases collected for the study were over a period of more than two decade. Records pertaining to 90 cases could be gathered from various sources. Permissions and consents were procured before the study and clearance from the Institutional Ethical committee was obtained in advance. Observation and Discussion: Total 90 cases of custodial death were analyzed. Out of these, 89 were males and 1 was female. Age group of these cases were between 21 to 60 years, maximum cases (37 cases) being between 21 to 30 years and 34 cases in the age group of 31 to 40 years, whereas 11 cases in between 41- 50 years age group. Out of 90 deaths, 19 were natural death of the unnatural deaths, 38 were suicides, 9 accidents, 30 were due to injuries. Among suicides the commonest mode of suicide is hanging. Out of 38 suicides, 28 cases were hanging, 5 cases of poisoning, 3 cases were of drowning. Death occurring in early age is of great concern and highlights the importance of effective implementation of screening and diagnostic program. Studies have concluded that natural and suicidal cases are more common in custody than accidental, homicidal or torture. Conclusion: Measures should be taken to provide a safe environment at the time of interrogation in police custody, following of code of conduct by the police. There is also a need for proper reform to avoid deaths due to suicide, violence and self-harm among the inmates. There is a need to have constant surveillance over them and install Cameras to supervise their activities to prevent violence and suicide.

Keywords: Police Custody Deaths; Torture; Victims; Suicide.