Prisoners have basic legal rights that cannot be taken away, including the right to food, water, and protection from torture or violence. However, torture has been widespread in Indian prisons both to extract confessions and punish prisoners. A 2001 Amnesty International report found thousands of cases of torture between 1997-2001 in most countries. If a person commits a crime, it does not mean they lose their human dignity. Several reports and courts have highlighted overcrowding, prolonged detention of undertrials, poor living conditions, torture, and lack of medical care in Indian prisons as ongoing problems.

1. Sardar Patel University of
Police Security and Criminal
Justice, Jodhpur
Human Rights
Violation in Prison
PRESENTED BY
JAYESH KUMAR

2. PRISONERS HAVE BASIC
LEGAL RIGHTS THAT
CAN’T BE TAKEN AWAY FROM
THEM
THESE INCLUDE:
•The right to food and water.
•Protection from torture, violence and racial harassment.
•Being able to get in touch with an attorney to defend himself.
“No one shall be subject to torture or cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment of
punishment

3. The practice of torture in prison has been
widespread and predominant in India since time
immemorial. Unchallenged and unrestricted, it has
become a ‘normal’ and ‘legitimate’ practice all
over. In the name of investigating crimes,
extracting confessions and punishing individuals
by the law enforcement agencies, torture is
inflicted not only upon the accused but also on
bona fide petitioners, complainants or informants
amounting to cruel, inhuman, barbaric and
degrading treatment, grossly derogatory to the
individual dignity of the human person. Torture is
also inflicted on women in the form of custodial
rape, molestation and other forms of sexual
torture.

4. A 2001 report by Amnesty International
highlighted the use of torture by states
between 1997 and 2001, and found that
every year thousands of perpetrators beat,
rape and electrocute other human beings.
Torture has been used in most countries
from time imme-morial. Its concept is based
on two fundamental facts. First, that we all
have imaginations, and secondly, that our
bodies are susceptible to pain. In other
words we can envisage what’s likely to
happen, and we don’t like getting hurt.

5. If a person commits any crime, it does
not mean that by committing a crime,
he/she ceases to be a human being and
that he/she can be deprived of those
aspects of life which constitute human
dignity.

6. Disturbing conditions of the prison and violation of the
basic human rights such as custodial deaths, physical
violence/torture, police excess, degrading treatment,
custodial rape, poor quality of food, lack of water supply,
poor health system support, not producing the prisoners to
the court, unjustified prolonged incarceration, forced labor
and other problems observed by the apex court have led to
judicial activism.
Overcrowded prisons, prolonged detention of under trial
prisoners, unsatisfactory living condition and allegations of
indifferent and even inhuman behavior by prison staff has
repeatedly attracted the attention of critics over the years.
Unfortunately, little has changed. There have been no
worthwhile reforms affecting the basic issues of relevance
to prison administration in India.
– (Justice A N Mulla Committee, 1980-83)

7. THE HON’BLE SUPREME COURT OF
INDIA IN THE CASE OF RAMA MURTHY V
STATE OF KARNATAKA SPECIFIED 9
PROBLEMS THAT THE INDIAN PRISONS
ARE AFFLICTED WITH.
THOSE BEING: –

8.  80% prisoners are under trials
 Delay in trial.
 Even though bail is granted, prisoners are not
released.
 Lack or insufficient provision of medical aid to
prisoners
 Callous and insensitive attitude of jail authorities
 Punishment carried out by jail authorities not
coherent with punishment given by court.
 Harsh mental and physical torture
 Lack of proper legal aid
 Corruption and other malpractices.

9. Torture in judicial Custody It is seen in many states
that the prisons, they are manage by the group of
persons. who are some times patronised by the jail
authorities, and these gangs take the prison premises
as their personal fiefdom. The member of the gang
beat the innocent prisoners.
who show no allegiance to any of the gangs and
they are tortured to the extent that they commit
sucide.
The use of torture in Indian prisons/detention
centres is a matter of documented fact. According to
National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) under
Ministry of Home Affairs, 1,424 prisoners died in
2006, 1,387 prisoners in 2005, 1,169 prisoners in
2004,152 and 1,060 prisoners in 2003153 in India.
Of the 1,423 prisoners who died in 2006, 80 died as
a result of ―unnatural” causes

10. Cases of Torture in Judicial Custody
Case1: On 12 January 2010, undertrial
prisoner Mr. Krishna Kumar died due
to alleged torture at Bhondsi Jail,
Gurgaon in Haryana. The jail officials
claimed Mr Kumar died due to medical
complications. However, the
deceased’s family alleged that they saw
injury marks on Mr Kumar’s back
suggesting torture.

11. Case2:
On 22 February 2010, undertrial prisoner Mr.
Jahangir Khan (22 years) died under mysterious
circumstances at Chas Jail in Bokaro in
Jharkhand. The jail authorities claimed Mr Khan
had attempted suicide by setting himself on fire
after pouring kerosene from a lamp in his ward
on 21 February 2010. Mr Khan was rushed to the
Bokaro General Hospital with severe burn
injuries but died on the next day. However, Mr
Khan before his death alleged in front of media
persons that he had been tortured by the jail
inmates and staff.

14. Thank you