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
- 1,856
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 1,856 news items on India, from 1999 to today.
Latest news
- SEPTEMBER 14, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. FORMER ARMY MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER OF WIFE
Mission Suklavaidya, 41, a former army man, was sentenced to death by the Hailakandi district and sessions court, after being convicted of murdering his wife under Sections 302 and 201 of the Indian Penal Code. Suklavaidya’s accomplice, Uttam Chakra-borty
- SEPTEMBER 13, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN. PAKISTAN SAYS DEATH-ROW INDIAN SPY'S FATE DEPENDS ON MERCY
it was reported that Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri told the Hindi news channel Aaj Tak that the fate of Sarabjit Singh, an Indian national on death row in Pakistan convicted as a spy and for setting bombs that killed several people, c
- SEPTEMBER 10, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN. PRESIDENT EXAMINING CASE OF INDIAN NATIONAL ON DEATH ROW SARABJIT SINGH
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said he had taken no decision yet on the fate of an Indian national sentenced to hang on spying and bombing charges but added he was examining the case
- SEPTEMBER 6, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN. INDIAN NATIONAL ON DEATH ROW IN PAKISTAN TO BE SPARED, REPORT
Islamabad assured New Delhi that Sarabjit Singh, an Indian sentenced to be hanged in Pakistan on bombing and spying charges, would be reprieved, the Hindu newspaper said.
- SEPTEMBER 6, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
India. Amnesty protests death penalty
Human rights campaign group Amnesty International called on India to abolish the death penalty, a day before European Union officials were due to meet Indian leaders at a summit to be held in New Delhi.
- SEPTEMBER 5, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. JAMA MASJID IMAM URGES PAKISTAN’S MUSHARRAF TO FREE DEATH ROW INMATE SARABJIT SINGH
the Imam of New Delhi's Jama Masjid, Syed Abdullah Bukhari and his son Syed Yahaya Bukhari, who is the President of the Jama Masjid United Front, appealed to Pakistan's President General Pervez Musharraf to release Indian death row inmate Sarabjit Singh o
- AUGUST 30, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN. INDIAN DIPLOMATS VISIT DEATH ROW PRISONER
Indian diplomats met Sarabjit Singh, a prisoner held on death row in Pakistan on bombing and spying charges, saying afterwards that they were hopeful of resolving the case. Islamabad accused Sarabjit of being an Indian agent who carried out four bomb atta
- AUGUST 26, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN. INDIA GRANTED CONSULAR ACCESS TO "SPY" ON DEATH ROW
Islamabad agreed to allow Indian diplomats to visit Sarabjit Singh, one of their nationals on death row on charges of being a spy, Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran said. Pakistan had Singh of being an Indian spy who carried out four bomb attacks, but
- AUGUST 25, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. 5,000 RALLY FOR ALLEGED INDIAN SPY FACING DEATH IN PAKISTAN
nearly 5,000 people held a rally as shops and businesses shut down in the home town of Sarabjeet Singh, an Indian facing death by hanging in Pakistan, demanding clemency and his immediate return home. In New Delhi, India's External Affairs Minister Natwar
- AUGUST 23, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN. INDIAN LEADER TO QUESTION PAKISTAN'S MUSHARRAF ABOUT CONDEMNED ‘SPY’
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he would speak to Pakistan's president about Sarabjit Singh, an alleged Indian spy handed the death sentence in Pakistan.
- AUGUST 22, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN. INDIAN FAMILY THREATENS SUICIDE IF ‘SPY’ IS EXECUTED
relatives of Manjit Singh, an Indian man sentenced to hang in Pakistan for spying, threatened to kill themselves if the execution was carried out.
- AUGUST 10, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. CITU LEADER SENTENCED TO DEATH
the Contai fast track court in East Midnapore, India, sentenced to death a prominent Citu leader, Purnendu Patra, and sentenced CPI-Ms Nilpur local committee secretary, Rabindra Jana, to life rigorous imprisonment.
- AUGUST 8, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. KASHMIR SHUTS DOWN TO DEMAND LIFTING OF DEATH SENTENCE
a one-day strike seeking the lifting of a death sentence on Mohammed Afzal, a man convicted over a deadly 2001 raid on India's parliament, paralysed much of Indian Kashmir, residents said. Most schools, shops, post offices and banks remained closed in the
- AUGUST 4, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. DEATH FOR PARLIAMENT RAIDER
the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence handed to Mohammed Afzal for involvement in a deadly attack on parliament by Muslim militants four years ago.
- AUGUST 4, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING CLASSMATE
a court in Vijayawada awarded the death sentence to Yelchuri Manohar, convicted of killing his classmate Ravuri Srilakshmi with a butcher's knife in a classroom in their college.
- JULY 27, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
HIGH COURT CONFIRMS DEATH PENALTY FOR FIVE IN MURDER CASE
the Kerala High Court confirmed the death sentences handed down by to five people for December 31, 1999 murder of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (Indian Popular Youth Front ) State vice-president, K. T. Jayakrishnan.
- JULY 25, 2005Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA. INDIAN BEHEADED FOR KILLING COMPATRIOT
Soper Amani Rafi, an Indian national, was beheaded by the sword in the Saudi capital Riyadh after being convicted of killing a compatriot, the country’s interior ministry announced.
- JULY 7, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER
the District and Sessions Court in Chitradurga, sentenced to death Siddaruda, 30, after convicting him of brutally murdering an engineer of the Zilla Panchayat sub-division.
- JULY 7, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH IN DOUBLE MURDER CASE
Panney Lal was sentenced to death by a court while his father Indrasan and mother Anari Devi were sentenced to life imprisonment for their involvement in the case of two women murdered following a dispute over a drain at Samaysthan village, Badhalganj, on
- JUNE 21, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. FILM ON CAPITAL PUNISHMENTWITHDRAWN FROM CINEMA IN WEST BENGAL
a film, which questions the West Bengal government's stand on the hanging of rape and murder convict Dhananjoy Chatterjee in August 2004, was withdrawn from a state-run theatre with its director alleging that this was done at the behest of the chief minis
- JUNE 15, 2005BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
BANGLADESH. INDIAN WOMAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR HUMAN TRAFFICKING
a Bangladesh court has sentenced an Indian woman to death for attempting to traffic a four-year-old boy out of the country, a court official said.
- JUNE 7, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. DEATH FOR MAN CONVICTED OF RAPE AND MURDER
a District and Sessions Judge in Assam, India, sentenced 21-year-old Mithu Kalita to death for the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl.
- JUNE 4, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. TWO BROTHERS SENTENCED TO DEATH IN BIHAR
two brothers were sentenced to death by a local court in Buxar, India, in connection with the killing of their three brothers in Bihar's Buxar district.
- JUNE 4, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. TRIPURA JAIL MOURNS OVER CAPITAL PUNISHMENT FOR SAMIR
it was reported that both the prisoners and staff of Agartala Central Jail in India’s Tripura state, were distressed over the death sentence given to Samir Bhaumik, accused of the murder and rape of a minor. West Tripura District & Session Judge Subhash B
- JUNE 2, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR RAPE, MURDER OF MINOR
a sessions court in New Delhi, India, sentenced to death Satish of Nangla village. He had been charged with the rape and murder of a minor girl of the same village in August 2001.
- MAY 31, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. 7 PEOPLE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER OF THREE
seven people were sentenced to death by a Fast Track Court in Tirupattur, India, after being convicted of murdering three members of the same family.
- MAY 31, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. DEATH PENALTY MAY BECOME HISTORY
it was reported that the government had decided to bring in amendments to the more-than-a-century-old Indian Penal Code (IPC) which, if approved by Parliament, would eliminate the existing provision of the “death sentence” even “in the rarest of rare” cas
- MAY 27, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH IN TRIPURA FOR RAPE AND MURDER
Samir Bhaumick, a man convicted of raping and murdering a seven year old girl and then hiding her body in a box, was sentenced to death by a court in the West district of Tripura, India.
- MAY 21, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. SWAMI SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDERING WIFE
Swami Shraddhananda was sentenced to death by a court in Bangalore, India, for murdering his wife Shakereh by burying her alive.
- MAY 19, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. HINDU WHO KILLED MISSIONARY ESCAPES DEATH PENALTY
Dara Singh, a Hindu extremist convicted of killing an Australian missionary and his two sons had his death sentence reduced to life imprisonment by a court in eastern India.