India
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Retentionist
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 0
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 0
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · The Indian legislative system also provides for different...
- News items in the archive
- 1,863
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
India is classified as Retentionist in the Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026. In 2026 the association recorded 0 executions in the country, against 0 the year before. The archive holds 1,863 news items on India, from 1999 to today.
In India the death penalty applies to murder, terrorism and certain serious sexual offences, and the method is hanging. Case law restricts it to the cases it calls the rarest of the rare: many sentences are handed down, few executions are actually carried out, and a significant share of sentences is overturned or commuted on appeal.
The archive follows sentences, commutations, executions and legislative debates.
Latest news
MAY 8, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: KARNATAKA COURT AWARDS DEATH PENALTY TO 2 IN HATE CRIME CASE
In a landmark ruling, the District Sessions Court in Vijayapura has delivered a verdict of justice in a harrowing case of honour killing, sentencing two perpetrators to death by hanging, while imposing life imprisonment and hefty fines on others involved,
MAY 6, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: CBI COURT AWARDS DEATH SENTENCE TO FOUR CONVICTS IN NUH GANGRAPES, DOUBLE MURDER CASE
A special CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) court in Haryana's Panchkula awarded the death sentence to four convicts in the 2016 Nuh gangrapes and double murder case on May 4, 2024, officials said.
APRIL 29, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: HC COMMUTES DEATH PENALTY TO LIFE
The Kerala High Court has modified the death sentence awarded to Narendra Kumar, a native of Uttar Pradesh and the sole accused in the Parampuzha triple murder case, to life imprisonment without remission for 20 years for the murder offence.
- APRIL 22, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: LUDHIANA WOMAN GETS DEATH PENALTY FOR BURYING TODDLER ALIVE
Ludhiana resident Neelam Kaur, 38, was on April 18, 2024 sentenced to death for burying alive Dilroz Kaur, the two-and-a-half-year-old daughter of her neighbour, Harpreet Singh, who is a police constable, after an argument with his family three years ago.
- APRIL 16, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: BOMBAY HC UPHOLDS DEATH PENALTY FOR MAN WHO MURDERED 5 MEMBERS OF HIS FAMILY
The Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court on March 27, 2024 confirmed the death penalty given to a 46-year-old labourer from Nagpur for murdering five members of his family in June 2018 over a land dispute.
APRIL 9, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH IN PUNE FOR SEXUALLY ASSAULTING A MINOR GIRL AND KILLING HER
Additional Sessions Judge and District Judge BP Kshirsagar sentenced Tejas Mahipati Dalvi to death for the rape, kidnapping, and murder of a minor.
- APRIL 1, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: DNA EVIDENCE FREES MAN AFTER 11 YEARS IN RAPE-MURDER CASE
In a shocking turn of events in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, a man sentenced to death thrice for the rape and murder of a 9-year-old girl was acquitted after 11 years, Law Trend reported on March 30, 2024
MARCH 26, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: 5 SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER OF FORMER ODISHA BLOCK CHAIRMAN
In a landmark verdict, a court in Odisha’s Keonjhar district on March 3, 2024 sentenced five individuals to death for the murder of former Anandpur block chairman Ram Chandra Behera.
MARCH 25, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: 8 DACOITS GIVEN DEATH PENALTY FOR KILLING THREE
Ten years after three members of a Bareilly-based income tax inspector's family were murdered during a dacoity by a gang of eight, including two women, a city court has awarded capital punishment to all of them on March 8, 2024.
MARCH 20, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: MAN GETS DEATH SENTENCE FOR KILLING LANCE NAIK IN BAREILLY
A man, who shot dead a Lance Naik in 2018 was awarded capital punishment by a court in UP’s Bareilly on February 28, 2024.
MARCH 12, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR RAPE AND MURDER OF 3-YEAR-OLD
A court in Haryana state on February 21, 2024 sentenced to death a 25- year-old man for the rape and murder of a three-year-old girl in 2018, police said.
- MARCH 7, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: TRANSGENDER SENTENCED TO DEATH IN 2021 RAPE, MURDER OF INFANT IN MUMBAI
A special court in Mumbai has sentenced a transgender person to death after finding them guilty of abducting, raping and murdering a three-month-old girlchild, India Today reported on February 28, 2024.
- MARCH 5, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: ALLAHABAD HIGH COURT COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE OF RAPE-MURDER CONVICT TO 30-YEAR JAIL TERM
The Allahabad High Court has commuted the death sentence given to a man, who was convicted of raping and murdering a three-year-old girl in 2021, to 30-year jail term, PTI reported on March 5, 2024.
FEBRUARY 27, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: EX-WRESTLING COACH SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDERING 6 PEOPLE IN FEB 2021
A court in Haryana’s Rohtak district on February 23, 2024 sentenced a former wrestling coach to death for killing six people, including a four-year-old boy, in February 2021.
FEBRUARY 19, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: MAN GETS DEATH IN 2014 DOUBLE MURDER CASE
A court of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh has sentenced a man to death in a 10-year-old double murder case – the first time capital punishment has been given in Maharajganj district, a lawyer said on February 19, 2024.
FEBRUARY 13, 2024QatarDEATH PENALTYQATAR RELEASES FORMER INDIAN NAVY OFFICERS AFTER DROPPING DEATH SENTENCES
Qatar has released eight former Indian naval officers previously sentenced to death on charges of spying for Israel.
- FEBRUARY 11, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: AT 561, NUMBER OF DEATH ROW PRISONERS AT A 19-YEAR HIGH
The number of prisoners on death row has risen to 561 in 2023, which is the highest in 19 years.
JANUARY 30, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: DEATH PENALTY FOR 15 MEMBERS OF BANNED PFI FOR KERALA BJP LEADER'S MURDER
A Kerala court on January 30, 2024 sentenced to death 15 persons associated with the now-banned Islamist outfit Popular Front of India (PFI) in connection with the murder of Bharatiya Janata Party OBC wing leader Ranjith Sreenivasan.
- JANUARY 30, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: HYDERABAD MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING WIFE
A court in Hyderabad on January 18, 2024 sentenced a man to death for murdering his wife.
- JANUARY 29, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: TWO GET DEATH PENALTY FOR 2005 SHRAMJIVI EXPRESS TRAIN BLAST
A district court in Uttar Pradesh's Jaunpur town on January 3, 2024 sentenced to death two men, including one from Bangladesh, for carrying out the Shramjivi Express train blast in 2005 that left at least 14 people dead and 62 injured.
- JANUARY 18, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: KARNATAKA HC COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE TO LIFE IN DOUBLE MURDER CASE
The Dharwad bench of the High Court in Karnataka state has refused to confirm the death sentence imposed upon three people in a double murder case, observing that the case does not answer the test of ‘rarest of rare case’, TNN reported on January 15, 2024
- DECEMBER 30, 2023IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: RAJASTHAN POSCO COURT AWARDS DEATH PENALTY TO RAPE, DOUBLE MURDER ACCUSED YOUTH
A Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court in Rajasthan’s Pali district awarded the death penalty to a 22-year-old accused in a case involving rape and double murder, Hindustan Times reported on December 13, 2023.
DECEMBER 12, 2023IndiaDEATH PENALTYMOTHER OF NURSE FACING EXECUTION IN YEMEN TOLD TO EXPLAIN ‘BLOOD MONEY’
The Delhi High Court on December 11, 2023 directed Premakumari, the mother of Nimisha Priya, a Kerala nurse facing a death sentence in Yemen for her involvement in the murder of a local citizen, to furnish documents illustrating the legal option of blood
NOVEMBER 21, 2023IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: KERALA CHILD RAPE-MURDER CONVICT SENTENCED TO DEATH
One hundred and ten days after a minor girl was brutally raped and killed in Kerala's Aluva, a special court in Kochi on November 14, 2023 sentenced a migrant worker to death
- NOVEMBER 15, 2023IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: SUPREME COURT COMMUTES DEATH PENALTY AWARDED TO A MURDER ACCUSED
The Supreme Court of India, in a judgment delivered on November 10, 2023, commuted death sentence awarded to a murder accused.
- NOVEMBER 9, 2023IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: 65-YR-OLD GETS DEATH PENALTY FOR RAPE, MURDER OF MINOR
The Special POCSO Court on November 7, 2023 awarded death sentence to a 65-year-old man accused of rape and murder in Uttar Pradesh.
OCTOBER 23, 2023IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: BRITISH MOTHER SENTENCED TO DEATH AFTER MURDERING HER SIKH HUSBAND
A British mother has been sentenced to death in India after she brutally murdered her husband in front of their nine-year-old son with the help of her lover, Daily Mail reported on October 17, 2023.
- OCTOBER 19, 2023IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: 3 MEN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING THREE CHILDREN IN UP
A court in Bulandshahr district of Uttar Pradesh on October 18, 2023 sentenced three persons to death for killing three children, aged between seven and nine, more than four years ago.
OCTOBER 18, 2023IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: DELHI HC COMMUTES ARIZ KHAN'S DEATH PENALTY TO A LIFE SENTENCE IN BATLA HOUSE ENCOUNTER CASE
The Delhi high court on October 12, 2023 commuted Ariz Khan's death penalty to a life sentence, a decision stemming from his conviction in the high-profile 2008 Batla House encounter.
- OCTOBER 12, 2023IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: KOLKATA HC SETS ASIDE DEATH SENTENCES IN 2013 KAMDUNI GANG RAPE AND MURDER
A Kolkata high court division bench on October 6, 2023 set aside the death sentences earlier ordered by a sessions court to three of the six convicts in the 2013 gang rape and murder of a 20-year-old college student at Kamduni village in North 24 Parganas