More than 50% of the Convicts in Prisons by the end of 2017 were serving Life Imprisonment
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
November 29, 2019
By
the end of 2017, there were a total of 1.39 lakh convicts serving their
sentence in Indian prisons. More than 95% of these convicts were male and more
than 70% are those who were either illiterate or only studied up to Class X.
Data also shows that more than 50% of the convicts were serving life
imprisonment.
The age andeducation levels of under-trials as per the data in the Prison Statistics ofIndia for 2017 were discussed in an earlier
story by Factly. This story aims to lookat the social aspects of the convicts, their age, education, type of offenceand punishment.
Convicts, unlikeunder-trials, are those who have been found guilty of having committed a crime. Prison
Statistics of India for 2017 was released by the NCRB recently. As on 31 December 2017, there were a total of 4.5 lakh inmates acrossvarious jails in India. Convicts comprised of 31% of the inmates. Of the 1.39 lakhconvicts, 1.33 lakh (95.6%) were male and 6,051 (4.3%) were female convicts.
One-fifth of the total convicts were reported in Uttar
Pradesh
Uttar Pradeshaccounted for the largest
number of convicts in jails. Almostone-fifth the total convicts in Indian jails were in the jails of UttarPradesh. 20% of the male convicts and 17% of the female convicts in the countrywere reported in Uttar Pradesh. Also, 29% of the prison inmates in UttarPradesh are convicts compared to the national average of 31%.
Even if the numberof convicts in Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir,Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Telangana, Uttarakhand,Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Assam along with those from UTs of Andamanand Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Delhi, Daman and Diu and Pondicherry arecombined (23,239), which is convicts in 16 States & 5 UTs, the number isstill 15.4% less than the number of convicts in Uttar Pradesh (27,501).
Following UttarPradesh is Madhya Pradesh with 17,273 convicts or 12.4% of the all the convictsin India.  Maharashtra and Punjab havereported more than 9000 convicts each. It is also observed that the convicts inUttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Punjab alone constitute 46% ofthe total convicts in the country.
Half of the convicts were those aged between 30 to 50
years
The age
group data of the convicts reveals that 50%of the convicts belonged to the age group of 30 to 50 years. Another 31%belonged to the age group of 18 to 30 years. Those who were 50 years of age andabove made up the remaining 19%.
While 51% of thefemale convicts were of the age group between 30 to 50 years of age, thosefemale convicts above 50 years of age accounted for 25% of the total femaleconvicts. The only male convict below 18 years of age was incarcerated in WestBengal.
92% of the convicts were imprisoned in their state of
domicile
92% of theconvicts belonged
to the state in which they werereported to have been imprisoned. Another 7% are those convicts who did notbelong to the state in which they were held captive while the rest belonged toanother country.
Bangladeshis comprised 63% of the foreign convicts in Indian
jails
Around 2,227convicts were those belonging to different
countries. 62% of the foreign convicts werereported in the prisons of West Bengal. Bangladeshis alone made up 63% of theforeign convicts. 283 people belonging to Nepal and 125 belonging to Myanmarwere also convicted.
More than 70% of the convicts were illiterate or
educated up to class X
Just like in thecase of under-trials, a large chunk (71%) of the convicts in prison wascomprised of those who were either illiterate
or were educated up to class X. Out ofthese, 42% of the convicts were educated below class X and the remaining 29%were illiterate.
Those who hadeducation equivalent to graduation, diploma and above accounted for 9%. Theremaining 20% comprised of those who had a qualification above class X butbelow graduation.
88% of the convicts were convicted for IPC crimes
Crimes committedby the convicts are broadly categorised as those committed under Indian
Penal Code (IPC) and those under Special
and Local Laws(SLL).  88% of the convicts committedcrimes under the IPC and the remaining under SLL.
Of those whocommitted crimes under IPC, 84% were convicted of offences affecting the humanbody like rape, murder, dowry death, kidnap and assault. More than 70,000convicts who were behind the bars were those involved in murder and a further 10,890were convicted for rape.
Uttar Pradesh accounted for largest number of convicts
for offences against women and SC/ST
Uttar Pradesh accountedfor 45% of the convicts in the country for dowry deaths. 22.6% of convicts formurder and 42% of those arrested for offences against SC/ST were also reportedin Uttar Pradesh. Maharashtra accounted for almost 11% of those convicted foroffences against property such as arson, burglary and theft.
The number of convictsheld for crimes against women was the highest in Uttar Pradesh. 26% (4847) ofthose convicted for crimes against women were in Uttar Pradesh. Madhya Pradesh,which reported the second highest number of convicts under the same headaccounted for 12.5% (less than half of Uttar Pradesh) of the total across thecountry.
Punjab had the largest number of convicts under liquor
and narcotics related acts
Under Special andLocal Laws, 9,637 convicts were imprisoned for liquor and narcotics under theProhibition Act, Excise Act and the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic SubstancesAct. They made up for 7% of the total convicts and 57% of those convicted underSLL.
Punjab accountedfor the maximum number of convicts held for liquor and narcotics relatedoffences i.e. 3,993 out of the total 9,637 which is 41% of the total. In fact,those convicted under these acts made up for 41% of the total convicts inPunjab.
347 convicts in jail are those who have been sentenced
to capital punishment
Capital punishmentrefers to the most severe form of punishment in the country for the mostheinous and gruesome offences. In India, according to the Code
of Criminal Procedure, capital punishment isthe death sentence.
In 2017 alone, 121convicts were sentenced to capital punishment.A total of 347 convicts in the prisons by the end of 2017 were those sentencedto death. 19% of them were reported in Maharashtra followed by Uttar Pradesh(14%) and West Bengal (11%).
Almost 53% of theconvicts in the jails were those who were serving life imprisonment. Thoseundergoing sentence of 10 to 13 years accounted for 15% of the total convictsin jails.
Even after thecompletion of their sentence, a total of 1658 convicts were still detained inprisons for not paying the penalty imposed upon them. Around 1.18 lakh convictswere released in 2017 after their conviction period. Around 53,133 convictswere released on bail. About 3,372 convicts were reported to be suffering frommental illnesses in 2017.