The laureates

As a researcher and attorney, Maitreyi’s work lies at the intersection of criminal law and social and intersectional justice. She is co-founder of the Square Circle Clinic (also known as Project 39A), a criminal justice initiative at NALSAR Law University in Hyderabad, India.

A lawyer by profession, she has more than ten years of experience in death penalty cases and has been involved in the legal defense of more than 100 people sentenced to death. Her work has contributed to the evolution of case law regarding the death penalty in India.

Maitreyi is the lead author of the unpublished report titled *Deathworthy: A Mental Health Perspective on the Death Penalty*. The report analyzes an empirical study conducted among 88 prisoners on death row and their families. Taking a psychosocial approach, this report documents the debilitating mental disorders suffered by the overwhelming majority of people on death row, the suffering associated with this sentence, and the adverse experiences they endured during their childhood and adolescence. She has also conducted empirical research on prison conditions and the mental health of prisoners under the direction of the High Court of Calcutta.

At the 23rd World Congress of the World Psychiatric Association in 2023, in recognition of her contributions to the advancement of psychiatry and mental health worldwide, she received the Presidential Citation for leading the work on the World Psychiatric Association’s Position Statement on Mental Health and the Death Penalty.

Maitreyi served as a research fellow for Mr. Anand Grover, a senior advocate at the Supreme Court of India, and assisted him in his work as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to health, particularly on Fukushima and the nuclear disaster, migrant workers, health financing, unhealthy diets, noncommunicable diseases, conflict situations, and the implementation of the international framework on the right to health