Study of custodial deaths in safdarjung hospital, new delhi- an autopsy based retrospective study

Death occurring in some form of custodial detention is commonly known as death in custody, such as police cell or prison. It should also include deaths resulting from police or prison officers attempting to detain a criminal or a person escaping or attempting to escape from police custody or prison. Custodial death is one of the worst crimes in a civilized society governed by Rule of Law. The occurrence of custodial deaths in India which is the world’s largest democracy has raised eyebrows of every citizen and shaken the faith in democracy. Incidences of police torture often hit the headlines and expose police to severe public criticism. Although the frequency of the deaths is very low, the criticality of its occurrence requires attention to the subject matter. The central problem in a sudden custodial death is identifying the exact cause of death. Hence we carried out an autopsy based retrospective study in the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Vardhman Mahavir Medical College & Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi. The study included all the custodial death cases brought for medicolegal autopsy in the mortuary of the hospital in last 5 years i.e. from January 2016 to December 2020. Total 45 custodial death cases were brought for autopsy during this period and they were studied retrospectively. Majority of custodial death cases were in the age group of 21-40 years. About 86.7% of custodial deaths were male and only 13.3% were female, showing male predominance. Majority of custodial deaths (95.6%) occurred in hospital while undergoing treatment. Majority of custodial death cases 33 (73.3%) were under trial prisoners who were lodged in jails. In majority of cases (84.4%) the cause of death was found to be natural due to the diseases of different body organs or systems while in 13.3% cases the cause of death was unnatural. In case of deaths due to natural causes majority of patients (36.8%) died due to diseases involving lungs like Pulmonary Tuberculosis and other lung diseases, followed by diseases involving multiple organs (23.7%). Out of total 6 unnatural custodial death cases 2 cases each were burns and fall and 1 case each was stab and head injury.