Muslims make up around 30% of inmates in Indian prisons, double of their share in population

Muslims made up almost 30% of all detainees in Indian prisons in 2021, despite the community having a demographic percentage of only 14.2%. (as of 2011).

Four different types of prisoners are housed in Indian prisons: convicts (those who have been found guilty of a crime and received a sentence from a court), undertrials (those who are currently in legal proceedings), detenues (those who are being held legally), and those who do not fall into any of these three categories but make up a small portion of the total prison population.

It is noteworthy that despite the minority only made up 34% of the State’s population, 61% of Assam’s inmates on death row and 49% of those awaiting trial were Muslims. In States with a disproportionately high detainee population, Gujarat, U.P., Haryana, and J&K U.T. had the highest proportion of Muslim detainees relative to their population.

In J&K U.T., U.P., Gujarat, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, and Nagaland, there were a disproportionately large number of detainees overall. In Gujarat, U.P., Haryana, and J&K U.T., the Muslim share of these was noticeably disproportionate to the population share.

For those who were being held and awaiting trial, Maharashtra did not divide them by religion. Because a population divide wasn’t available, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana were not taken into account.

Source: Prison Statistics of India