62.2% inmates awaiting death penalty have at least one mental illness: Study

The report noted a UN General Assembly resolution in December 2020 urged countries not to impose the death penalty on individuals suffering from mental or intellectual disabilities

A National Law University study based on interviews of 88 inmates awaiting the death penalty has found 62.2% of them had been diagnosed with at least one mental illness and over 75% with deficits in their intellectual functioning. The study found correlations between death row incarcerations and mental illness. “The proportion of persons with mental illness and intellectual disability on death row is overwhelmingly higher than the proportions in the community population,” said the study.

The death penalty sentencing process has been whittled down to such a formality that there is no time to conduct the kind of tests and assessments required to identify mental disability, the author of the study says. (Shutterstock)

The findings of the study titled “Deathworthy: A Mental Health Perspective of the Death Penalty” were released after five years of research.

“The big problem is that the death penalty sentencing process has been whittled down to such a formality that there is no time to conduct the kind of tests and assessments required to identify the disability,” said Maitreyi Misra, the lead author of the study.

The report noted a UN General Assembly resolution in December 2020 urged countries not to impose the death penalty on individuals suffering from mental or intellectual disabilities. “In the case of nine prisoners, their disability was not even brought to the attention of the courts. Three of these nine prisoners had their mercy petition rejected by the President,” said Misra. She added judges have the power to call for psychological evaluations.

As many as 60% of the prisoners were no longer on death row. But it was not due to the discovery of mental illnesses or intellectual disabilities, but due to sociological factors. “In none of the cases, mental illnesses were the reason for acquittal or sentence reduction. The grounds taken in commuting death penalty sentences were reformation, social-economic circumstances, or young age when convicted. But mental illnesses and intellectual disability were not factors,” said Misra.

B L Vohra, a retired Indian Police Service officer, said whether it is a physical ailment or mental ailment, prisoners are given the required care. “...only when a person is deemed fit, they are given the death penalty.”