Pathways to Homicide: Trauma, Mental Health and Reintegration Challenges Among Incarcerated Women in India

This qualitative study examines the trauma histories, mental health profiles, socioeconomic circumstances and reintegration concerns of 50 women incarcerated for homicide in four North Indian prisons. Applying a feminist pathways framework, semistructured interviews were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Four themes emerged: cumulative victimisation, untreated psychological distress, structural entrapment and reintegration precarity, reflecting widespread domestic violence, psychological distress, poverty, and fear of community rejection among participants. Findings indicate that homicide in this population was predominantly reactive, rooted in chronic victimisation and structural marginalisation, and underscore the need for trauma-informed prison mental health care, legal aid reform and gender-responsive reintegration support.