Appeal for abolition of death penalty

Guwahati: Making a strong plea for abolition of capital punishment, an NGO dedicated to protection of human rights has said 1,455 people were awarded death sentence in the country in the last ten years, which means one death sentence in less than every third day.

The Asian Centre for Human Rights report `The State of Death Penalty in India 2013` observed that as per the records of the National Crimes Records Bureau (NCRB), 1,455 convicts or an average of 132.27 convicts per year were given death penalty between 2001 and 2011. During the same period, the highest number of death penalty was pronounced in Uttar Pradesh (370) followed by Bihar (132), Maharashtra (125), Karnataka and Tamil Nadu (95 each), Madhya Pradesh (87), Jharkhand (81), West Bengal (79), Delhi (71), Gujarat (57), Rajasthan (38), Kerala (34) and Odisha (33). In Haryana, 31 convicts were given death sentences, Assam (21), Jammu and Kashmir (20), Punjab (19), Chhattisgarh (18), Uttaranchal (16), Andhra Pradesh (8), Meghalaya (6), Chandigarh and Daman and Diu (4 each), Manipur and Himachal Pradesh (3 each), Tripura and Puduchery (2 each) and Goa (1). In the rest of the states - Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim - and Union Territories of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Lakswadweep - no death sentence was pronounced, the report said. PTI