A Prospective Study of Pattern of Custodial Deaths of Autopsies Conducted at SMS Hospital Jaipur During 2017-18

Abstract

Deaths occurring in police custody incite enormous amount of emotions from relatives of deceased and
speculations from media and general public. A person in custody is entirely dependent on his custodians
for his basic requirements; hence this type of death raises questions regarding living conditions, inhumane
treatment and violation of fundamental rights of prisoners.
This prospective observational study was carried out during period April 2017 to March 2018 in Department
of Forensic Medicine, at SMS Medical College, Jaipur, Rajasthan. 20 cases of alleged Deaths in custody
during study period were observed on the subjects of socio-demographic profile of deceased, circumstances
prior to deaths, treatment taken, postmortem findings and cause of deaths. The data so obtained was
statistically analysed. This study observed that maximum cases were male (95%); age group above 61
years (30%); urban domicile (65%). Maximum cases were brought in month of February (25%) followed
by January (20%). Most prisoners died in hospital during treatment (80%). Natural causes of death were
commoner than unnatural causes. Histopathological observations were most common for carcinoma (25%)
followed by myocardial infarction (20%).