12 Indians died in jails after Sarabjit's killing

At least 12 Indian prisoners held in Pakistani jails died in four years after the killing of Sarabjit Singh in 2013.

The bilateral Judicial Committee on Prisoners has not been allowed to visit any prison in Pakistan in the past four years. This fuelled New Delhi’s fears that Islamabad was trying to cover up how Indian citizens were being ill-treated in the jails in Pakistan.

The information collated by the Centre revealed that at least two more Indians died in the jails of Pakistan in 2013 after the killing of Sarabjit by fellow inmates at the Central Jail of Lahore in May.

Though the killing of Sarabjit, who hailed from Punjab in India, renewed the focus on hostility that Indian citizens experienced in Pakistani jails and the poor conditions under which they were held captive, nothing changed in the following years.

New Delhi learnt that five Indians died in Pakistani jails in 2014, two in 2015 and three in 2016. Islamabad claimed that all of them died due to natural causes. New Delhi, however, has its doubts in several cases as Islamabad never provided an opportunity to verify its claim.

Most of the Indian prisoners, who died in the jails in Pakistan, are fishermen who crossed the maritime border while fishing in the waters between the two nations.

The death of Indians were reported mostly from Central Jail in Lahore and District Jail at Malir in Karachi.