Last week, the chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission of India (NHRC), former Chief Justice of India HL Dattu, pointed out the need to protect the interests of prisoners with mental health illnesses, when he attended a meeting in Delhi for a review of mental health in India.
This issue had also come to light when the top court gave its observations on this matter in the case of accused X v. state of Maharashtra. It acknowledged that prisons could be difficult places to be in. Various aspects of a prisoner’s life, like overcrowding, violence, isolation, and absence of familial affection, could affect their mental health. The case before the court was that of a death row convict who was arrested back in 1999 for kidnapping and raping two minor girls. The three judge bench held that post conviction, mental illness could be a mitigating factor while deciding the cases of commutation of death sentence.
How can the State deal with the deteriorating mental health conditions of prisoners in India?