Dalits' share among prisoners as high as 50%: Villupuram MP Ravikumar

CHENNAI: VCK general secretary and Villupuram MP D Ravikumar on Thursday urged Chief Minister MK Stalin to immediately review the Union government’s Prison Statistics India 2023 report, which he said highlighted systemic caste and religious bias in law enforcement and the judiciary in Tamil Nadu.

The number of Scheduled Caste, Muslim and Christian prisoners was disproportionately high in the State’s jails, he said. It is alarming both among convicts and undertrials, he added. While Scheduled Castes constitute about 20 per cent of Tamil Nadu’s population, their share among prisoners ranged between 31 and 50 per cent. Scheduled Tribes, who account for only 1 per cent of the population, made up between 2 and 3 per cent of prisoners, he said.

Among those held under preventive detention, Dalits comprised 42.1 per cent (571 prisoners). Muslims and Christians accounted for 10 per cent each, with 136 and 133 detainees respectively. “No other State in India shows this level of over-representation of Dalits and minorities,” he said.

The report also noted that Muslims, who form 5.8 per cent of Tamil Nadu’s population, represented 13 per cent of the prison population. Christians, with a 6 per cent population share, accounted for 10 per cent of those in jails.

“These figures expose an inherent bias in policing, remand practices of lower courts and the functioning of the prison system. The Supreme Court has already directed states to amend caste-based provisions in prison manuals. The Chief Minister must act swiftly to reform the system in Tamil Nadu,” Ravikumar said.