BAREILLY: A total of 419 convicted or undertrial prisoners have died from January 1 to Dec 31 in 2025 in 66 Central and District jails of Uttar Pradesh; of which several are overcrowded, an RTI revealed. In June 2025, the NHRC has taken Suo-moto cognizance of the deaths of three inmates within 48 hours at Varanasi’s District and Central jails, allegedly due to illness and heart failure. Similarly, in September 2025, the death of undertrial Anil Kumar Tiwari in Hamirpur jail had also triggered protests. His family alleged fatal torture and extortion, leading to murder charges against the jailer and seven others. However, the RTI response did not mention the causes of the deaths and also did not give the jail a wise number of deaths data. The information was sought by a student activist of Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Vineet Chaprana. “Deaths of inmates in the district jail is a cause for concern. Negligence of the jail administration appears to be the primary cause, in 2024, I had sought a RTI response in which it was said that 53 people had died in Meerut jail. There were many vacant medical posts as well who had not been filled. Probably, due to the lack of timely medical treatment, the number of deaths is more,” said Chaprana. The RTI response also shows that several jails in UP are overcrowded. “Agra, Varanasi, Firozabad, Mathura, Etah etc. are shown overcrowded in the RTI response. As a result, many basic facilities mandated are lacking and available facilities are stretched, causing numerous problems to the inmates,” said Chaprana. “We will file a complaint with the Human Rights Commission regarding the issue of overcrowding in jails,” he added. Chaprana also cited some examples of deaths saying that Data is of 2025 but the concern is old and persistent. In May 2024, a 66-year-old Mohd Raisuddin, convicted of culpable homicide, died of tuberculosis. in the same month, 28-year-old Riazuddin suffered a heart attack during ‘namaz’ and was rushed to the jail hospital but he could not be revived. A 58-year-old undertrial in a cheating case, Om Prakash Gupta, died under suspicious circumstances after he fell inside the jail bathroom in Sep 2023.
