New Delhi, September 15, 2022: Muslims made up almost 30% of all detainees in Indian prisons in 2021, despite the community having a demographic percentage of only 14.2%. (as of 2011).
Four different types of prisoners are housed in Indian prisons: convicts (those who have been found guilty of a crime and received a sentence from a court), undertrials (those who are currently in legal proceedings), detenues (those who are being held legally), and those who do not fall into any of these three categories but make up a small portion of the total prison population.
It is noteworthy that despite the minority only made up 34% of the State’s population, 61% of Assam’s inmates on death row and 49% of those awaiting trial were Muslims.
In States with a disproportionately high detainee population, Gujarat, U.P., Haryana, and Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir had the highest proportion of Muslim detainees relative to their population.
In IIOJK, and In Indian state U.P., Gujarat, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, and Nagaland, there were a disproportionately large number of detainees overall. In IIOJK, and In Indian state Gujarat, U.P., Haryana, the Muslim share of these was noticeably disproportionate to the population share.
For those who were being held and awaiting trial, Maharashtra did not divide them by religion. Because a population divide wasn’t available, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana were not taken into account. Source: Prison Statistics of India