Retrospective study of prison deaths in western Maharashtra was carried out from year 2001 to 2008. A total 66 cases of prison deaths were examined excluding deaths in police custody. 64 inmates were male and 2 were females. The age ranged from 21 year to 80years with mean age of death being 46.48 years. Natural cause of death predominates (n=63, 95.45%), tuberculosis related deaths (n=34, 51.51%) being maximum, followed by coronary artery disease (n=22, 33.33%), pneumonia (n=2, 3.03%), cancer (n=2, 3.03%), liver cirrhosis (n=2, 3.03), intracranial haemorrhage (n=1, 1.51%). Out of which 50 (75.75%) cases received treatment. Unnatural deaths (n=3, 4.55%) comprised exclusively of suicidal hanging, all were suffering from mental illness.
Prison deaths, Prison tuberculosis, Human rights, Hanging
