Chennai: Almost one in two undertrial in Tamil Nadu belongs to either Muslim or Christian community, according to the National Crime Record Bureau data. Though Christians and Muslims comprise 6.12 per cent and 5.86 per cent of the state’s total population, the two communities together account for about 48 per cent of the undertrials in the state. Of the total 9,034 undertrials, Muslims and Christians comprise 1,867 and 2,538 prisoners, says NCRB’s prison statistics 2014. In terms of caste wise break-up, the dalits and tribal accounts for 30 per cent of the total undertrials.
The disproportionate number of undertrials from minority groups and oppressed communities only indicate discrimination in the law enforcement, said A. Kathir, executive director of Evidence.
Though the criminal tribes Act was abolished long time ago, the denotified tribes like Kuravas still suffer the “criminal tribes” stigma, said A. V. Shanmugham, state organiser, Tamil Nadu Kuravan Tribal Development Association.
However, Dr S. Ramadoss, assistant professor, Department of Criminology, University of Madras. cautioned that one should not come to a conclusion based on data that there is a religion based discrimination in the criminal justice system. “On the face of it, we cannot say there is a religion based discrimination in Tamil Nadu like other Northern states,” he said.
