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
- JUNE 27, 2004IndiaDEATH PENALTY
"The death sentence awarded to the accused in the case...
"The death sentence awarded to the accused in the case of rape and murder of the 14-year-old Hetal Parekh in Kolkata in 1990 has understandably raised a controversy
- JUNE 27, 2004IndiaDEATH PENALTY
In the first public demand for the execution of Dhananjoy...
In the first public demand for the execution of Dhananjoy Chatterjee, sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl, politicians across the political divide and people from diverse backgrounds called for immediate implementation of the
- JUNE 26, 2004IndiaDEATH PENALTY
A day after the President, A
A day after the President, A
- JUNE 25, 2004IndiaDEATH PENALTY
Amnesty International urged Indonesia to commute the...
Amnesty International urged Indonesia to commute the death sentence passed on an Indian who, the government hoped, would be the first drug trafficker executed in the country in recent years
- JUNE 24, 2004IndiaDEATH PENALTY
Indian authorities stayed the hanging of Dhananjoy...
Indian authorities stayed the hanging of Dhananjoy Chatterjee in what would have been India's first execution in 15 years
- JUNE 24, 2004IndiaDEATH PENALTY
The Indonesian Attorney General's Office announced...
The Indonesian Attorney General's Office announced it was making preparations for the execution of convicted Indian drug dealer Ayodhya Prasadh Chaubey following the Supreme Court's rejection of his second request for a review
- JUNE 24, 2004IndiaDEATH PENALTY
Indian intellectuals were leading protests against...
Indian intellectuals were leading protests against capital punishment after a hangman came out of retirement to prepare for the first execution in Calcutta for more than a decade
- JUNE 23, 2004IndiaDEATH PENALTY
The European Union (EU) handed over to India a demarche...
The European Union (EU) handed over to India a demarche asking it to think about abolishing capital punishment as the nation discussed the possible hanging of Dhananjoy Chatterjee a man convicted of the rape and murder of a teenager
- JUNE 13, 2004IndiaDEATH PENALTY
Major Singh and Baldev Singh were sentenced to death...
Major Singh and Baldev Singh were sentenced to death by an Additional District and Sessions Court in India after being convicted of killing their brother in law
- JUNE 12, 2004IndiaDEATH PENALTY
Four sadhus and a disciple of the Vadtal Swaminarayan...
Four sadhus and a disciple of the Vadtal Swaminarayan sect were sentenced to death by a Nadiad sessions court in India
- JUNE 9, 2004IndiaDEATH PENALTY
The West Bengal government was preparing for the state's...
The West Bengal government was preparing for the state's first hanging in decades
- MAY 21, 2004IndiaDEATH PENALTY
A Delhi Sessions Court sentenced to death a Pakistani...
A Delhi Sessions Court sentenced to death a Pakistani terrorist, Maqsood Ahmed, alias Ashraf Abbu Mujahid, for attacking a police encampment in Jarodha Kalan on the outskirts of Delhi, killing a man and grievously injuring his colleague on the night of Oc
- MAY 19, 2004IndiaDEATH PENALTY
Santosh Bariyar was sentenced to death by an Additional...
Santosh Bariyar was sentenced to death by an Additional Sessions court in India after it found him guilty of being the mastermind behind the murder of former national junior tennis champion R Kartikraj
- APRIL 30, 2004IndiaDEATH PENALTY
Indian serial killer Shashi Shekhar was ordered to...
Indian serial killer Shashi Shekhar was ordered to serve consecutive life terms after a judge told him the death sentence was not punishment enough for his crimes
- APRIL 21, 2004IndiaDEATH PENALTY
India rectified its vote on the anti death penalty...
India rectified its vote on the anti death penalty resolution approved on April 21 by the UN Commission on Human Rights, changing its stance from voting against to abstaining
- APRIL 21, 2004IndiaDEATH PENALTY
India rectified its vote on the anti death penalty...
India rectified its vote on the anti death penalty resolution approved by the UN Commission on Human Rights, changing its stance from voting against to abstaining
- APRIL 21, 2004IndiaDEATH PENALTY
A man named Shivaprakash was sentenced by an Additional...
A man named Shivaprakash was sentenced by an Additional District and Sessions court in India after being found guilty of kidnapping and murdering a six-year-old boy, Praveen
- APRIL 21, 2004IndiaDEATH PENALTY
In response to the adoption of a resolution for a moratorium...
In response to the adoption of a resolution for a moratorium on executions by the UN Commission on Human Rights, Debabrata Saha, a representative of India, said the international community had not yet reached consensus on the issue of capital punishment,
- APRIL 16, 2004IndiaDEATH PENALTY
Gnanaprakasham, Simon, M
Gnanaprakasham, Simon, M
- APRIL 14, 2004IndiaDEATH PENALTY
The former judge of the Karnataka High Court in India, H
The former judge of the Karnataka High Court in India, H
- APRIL 13, 2004IndiaDEATH PENALTY
The wives of four bandits due to be hanged in Bangalore,...
The wives of four bandits due to be hanged in Bangalore, southern India, on April 16, were pinning their hopes on a last-minute presidential pardon, the women told AFP
- APRIL 12, 2004IndiaDEATH PENALTY
The People's Legal Forum (PLF) was to stage a demonstration...
The People's Legal Forum (PLF) was to stage a demonstration in front of the Deputy Commissioner's office in India seeking the abolition of death penalty in the country
- APRIL 12, 2004IndiaDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty is provided for by the Penal Code and by Art. 21 of the Constitution which states
The death penalty is provided for by the Penal Code and by Art. 21 of the Constitution which states
- APRIL 10, 2004IndiaDEATH PENALTY
Teacher Ramesh Sahu was sentenced to death by a court...
Teacher Ramesh Sahu was sentenced to death by a court in Shahdol, India, on charges of kidnapping and killing an 11-year-old boy in 1999
- APRIL 6, 2004IndiaDEATH PENALTY
The People's Legal Forum (PLF) submitted a petition...
The People's Legal Forum (PLF) submitted a petition to the President of India, A
- MARCH 30, 2004IndiaDEATH PENALTY
U.K. Venugopal was sentenced to death by a fast track...
U.K. Venugopal was sentenced to death by a fast track court in Manjeri, India, after being found guilty of murdering his employer
- MARCH 28, 2004IndiaDEATH PENALTY
The need for abolishing the death penalty was emphasised...
The need for abolishing the death penalty was emphasised at a meeting organised by the Society for Community Organisation Trust (SOCO)
- MARCH 27, 2004IndiaDEATH PENALTY
The Madras High Court, India, commuted the death sentence...
The Madras High Court, India, commuted the death sentence of 32 year old Marimuthu into life imprisonment
- MARCH 25, 2004IndiaDEATH PENALTY
An Indian court in Bhuj town in Gujarat state sentenced...
An Indian court in Bhuj town in Gujarat state sentenced four Pakistani men to death for "waging war" against India after they were caught smuggling the deadly explosive RDX into the country in 1999
- MARCH 10, 2004IndiaDEATH PENALTY
Members of the Regional Tibetan Youth Congress (RTYC)...
Members of the Regional Tibetan Youth Congress (RTYC) and the Regional Tibetan Women's Association from Bylakuppe, Hunsur, Kollegal, and Mysore staged a candlelight demonstration at the Town Hall in Mysore, India, to draw public attention to the death sen