144 death sentences handed down by trial courts in 2021; 54 percent cases involved sexual offences

Trial courts across the country handed down 144 death sentences in the year 2021, nearly double the 77 death sentences imposed during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, a report by research organization Project 39A of National Law University, Delhi highlighted.

As in 2020, sexual offences continued to dominate capital sentencing in trial courts, with 54.21% of the cases that led to a death sentence involving sexual offences

The high number of death sentences by trial court in 2021 has taken the total death row population in the country to 488, a nearly 21 percent jump from 2020, the report further said.

This is also the highest death row population in India since the year 2004.

The 5 states where the maximum number of death sentences were imposed in 2021 were Uttar Pradesh (34), Bihar (27), Tamil Nadu (15), Andhra Pradesh (13) and Odisha (9).

The 5 states with the highest death row population as on December 31, 2021 were Uttar Pradesh (86), Maharashtra (41), West Bengal (38), Bihar (37) and Madhya Pradesh (37).

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