Crime: India
This page is about miscellaneous crimes. These are categories too small to merit independent pages. For a fuller picture of crime in India please go to the bottom of this page (or to Indpaedia’s Main page, by clicking the Indus logo). On both you can click the ‘category’ Crime.
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
Adolescent/ youth, deaths of
2013 data
The Times of India, May 10 2016
Self-harm causing most youth deaths
Sushmi Dey
Self-harm is the top reason for adolescent or youth deaths in India causing close to 60,000 deaths annually in the age group of 15-24 years, a latest global study shows. It is also the biggest reason for disability among youths.
Self-harm includes suicide, attempted suicide or any form of self-inflicted wounds.Self-harm is followed by road injuries leading to over 37,000 mortality in the same age group during 2013.
The findings are part of new research conducted by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) based on 2013 data. The study will be published in the upco ming issue of the international medical journal Lancet.The data shows self-harm has increased rapidly over the last two decades, indicating a rise in stress, mental disorders and changing lifestyle and behavioural patterns. In 1990, self-harm caused a total of 37,630 deaths among youngsters between 15-24 years age.
Data from 2013 shows self harm has replaced tuberculosis as the leading cause for adolescent deaths. In 1990, a total of 52,038 youngsters between 15-24 years of age died due to tuberculosis, of this 18,221were in the age group of 15-19 years and rest were aged between 20-24 years.
“We are certainly not doing enough, for the death toll in youth has been rising for the past decade, even while many other countries like China and Sri Lanka have been able to achieve just the opposite. As an immediate priority, the government must launch a national programme, with the active participa tion of youth, to address these leading causes of death and illness,“ says Vikram Patel, professor for mental health in Centre for Global Mental Health at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
A comparative analysis shows deaths due to self-harm are relatively less in other developing countries like China and Brazil. In China, 11,074 deaths were caused due to selfharm among adolescents (1524 years) during 2013, whereas Brazil reported only 2,697 deaths in the same period and among the same age group.
However, researchers maintain mental health disorders and road injuries are the two main contributors to health loss worldwide for both sexes.The findings of the IHME study shows self harm, road accidents and violence were the leading causes of deaths for 15-24 year olds worldwide in 2013. In India, apart from self-harm and road accidents, diseases like tuberculosis, intestinal infections, heart disorders, and lower respiratory infections are also found contributing significantly to adolescent deaths.
Researchers say evidence shows behaviours that start in adolescence can determine health and well being for a lifetime. “Adolescents today also face new challenges, including rising levels of obesity and mental health disorders, high unemployment, and the risk of radicalisation,“ the report said. Seeking more investments in adolescent health and well being, the study pointed out adolescents aged 1024 years represent over a quarter of the world's population, 89% of whom live in developing countries.
Arrests, illegal
UP accounts for over 80% of illegal arrests in India
Ahead Of No. 2 Delhi By 3,000%
Deeptiman Tiwary TNN
New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh’s high-handedness is not just reflected in the arbitrary transfer of officers such as Durga Sakthi Nagpal and slapping of bogus cases against dissenters (as in the case of Dalit scholar Kanwal Bharti), it can also be seen in the massive number of illegal arrests made by the UP police.
According to National Human Rights Commission data, UP records an overwhelming majority of illegal arrests in the country, accounting for more than 80% of all such cases. In fact, it tips its nearest competitor, Delhi, by over3,000% almost year after year.
In the past three years (April 2010 to July 2013), UP accounted for 3,397 illegal arrests out of 3,950 such cases recorded across India by NHRC. The count for the rest of the 27 states and seven union territories put together was just 553.
“What do you expect from a state where many politicians themselves are criminals? How do you expect them to have any respect for law and order or human rights?” says Colin Gonsalves of Human Rights Law Network.
From April 2012 to March 2013, NHRC recorded 703 cases of illegal arrests in all. As many as 589 of these were against the UP police. UP accounts for 161 of 192 illegal arrests in ’13
Its closest rivals in this dubious distinction, Uttarakhand and Delhi, were way behind with 14 cases each. Data for this period shows only two other states where the number of illegal arrests had crossed double figures — Karnataka (12) and Andhra Pradesh (10).
In 2013 too (April 1 to July 20), UP accounted for 161 such cases of the total of 192 recorded by NHRC in the entire country. Its closest rival, Delhi, was again was behind with only five cases.
Year 2011 was the worse for UP, with the state police being at the wrong end of the law 1,101 times of the total of 1,249 cases registered by NHRC. Delhi again took the second spot with 38 cases. In 2010 too UP recorded 1,546 such cases of the total of 1,716. These are cases that were brought to NHRC’s notice. The real figures for both UP and other states are bound to be higher as many complainants go to state human rights commissions instead of knocking at NHRC’s doors.
Conversely, sources say, UP being closer to Delhi, more people may tend to approach NHRC in the capital. But if that was true, neighbouring Haryana would also show a high number of illegal arrests. However,Haryana’s figures for many years have remained in single digits.
Drunk driving
Pune the city to drink and drive: Pune Mirror
While cops boast of having caught over 21k drunk drivers this year, they have no idea that most of the accused are being let off in court, since a breathalyser test is not seen as clinching evidence. The only way to close cases is a conclusive medical examination
On April 10, 2016, Hadapsar resident Abhijit Gangawane was caught near Vaiduwadi Chowk, for allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol. The breathalyser test revealed that he had an alcohol content of 44.8 mg per 100 ml of blood. Similarly, Ashish Lokras of Hinjewadi was caught allegedly drink driving on New Year's Eve, 2015, near Saundarya Garden, not far from his residence, with 330 mg per 100 ml. A few weeks earlier, on December 24, 2015, Ganesh Pandit from Kothrud was caught under similar circumstances with 227 mg of alcohol showing up on the breathalyser.
Since the permissible blood-alcohol content is 30 mg per 100 ml, all three were booked under Section 185 of the Motor Vehicles Act. Like many others, they were made to pay a deposit and let off. A few days later, they were summoned to court, where they pleaded not guilty.
Recently, all three were acquitted by the judicial magistrate's court after it was found that cops had not gathered enough evidence against them.
These are just three of several cases where the accused in drink driving cases have been acquitted by Pune courts. While Pune cops can't stop gushing over having booked over 21,000 drunk drivers this year, they have no clue that they are losing most cases in court. The acquittals far exceed the convictions since only those who plead guilty are being convicted. Those who hire lawyers and take on the might of the police are let off.
Mirror is in possession of two dozen such acquittal orders. In each of the cases, the court has remarked that though breathalyser tests were done, the statement of the officer conducting the tests has not been attached with the charge sheet. Moreover, cops have not been able to prove that the person was actually driving a vehicle. Most importantly, the court found that breathalyser results are of electronic nature and not admissible as evidence. Under Section 22A of the Indian Evidence Act, (oral admissions as to the contents of electronic records are not relevant, unless the genuineness of the electronic record produced is in question), such evidence cannot be treated as clinching. On these grounds, all the accused have been acquitted.
Interestingly, traffic cops in Pune had no idea of these acquittals, being focused only on the number of cases they have caught and the deposit collected from each one. Unfortunately, the glee at their own success is rather misplaced as it is only when an accused gets convicted that the case is considered to be closed.
When Mirror contacted Dr Pravin Mundhe, DCP, traffic department, Pune, he said, "Since the number of people caught on a regular basis is so huge, it is not possible for us to take them for medical tests. We nab around 150 people on a single day as and when we take up a drive. I will have to consult the legal team and find a way out."
Pune police commissioner Rashmi Shukla said that she was not aware of such acquittals. "Now that it has been brought to my notice, I will ensure that drivers caught driving under the influence of alcohol are subjected to medical tests. Also, we will take other measures to ensure that we get conviction of every person caught during the drives," she said.
LAWYERSPEAK
Advocate Ashok Adulkar, defence lawyer for Ganesh Pandit who was acquitted on September 26, 2016, told Mirror, "The main argument from our side was that the traffic police did not take Pandit's medical test. The breathalyser machine was found to be defective. So, my client was acquitted in the case and it's turned out to be fortunate for many people, who were acquitted due to the lack of a medical test. Also, now people are afraid that if they plead guilty to being drunk, they can be fined up to Rs 15,000 or get five years in jail, according to the new Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill 2016, approved in August this year. Hence, the number of DD cases continues to increase even for us, due to the simple fault of not conducting a medical test."
Since the number of people caught regularly is so huge, it's not possible for us to take them for medical tests. We nab around 150 people per day when we take up a drive. I will have to consult the legal team and find a way out - DR PRAVIN MUNDHE, DCP, traffic department
DRIVERS CAUGHT
2016: 21,050 (till October-end)
2015: 5,800
2014: 3,000
Drunk-driving deaths: 2013
Drunk-driving deaths show sharp decline
Dipak Dash New Delhi:
The Times of India Sep 01 2014
But Cops' False Reporting May Be Real Reason
States known for their high consumption of liquor have reported less road deaths caused due to driving under influence of alcohol. Goa, Kerala, Sikkim and Tripura reported only one fatality each while Bengal, Manipur, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu, Lakshadweep and Puducherry registered no death due to drunk driving in 2013.
Six other states and UTs including Delhi and Gujarat reported less than 10 deaths. The data is encouraging at a time when India is struggling to reduce its road fatalities. According to the latest road accident report of the road transport ministry , the number of accidents caused due to driving under influence of al cohol and drugs decreased to 20,290 in 2012 from 23,979 the previous year. Total deaths decreased significantly to 6,463 last year from 7,835 in 2012.
The big change is primarily on account of UP and Jharkhand witnessing sharp drop in fatalities due to drunk driving. The data shows that though UP topped the list in total fatalities last year, it saw fewer deaths attributed to drunk driving.About 658 died in such accidents in 2013 against 2,414 the previous year. In case of Jharkhand, such deaths fell to 241 in 2013 compared to 438 in 2012.
States that saw significant increase in such deaths included Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Jammu & Kashmir.
Delhi did not see any change, though the city police have intensified their crackdown. According to government data, six people died in such accidents last year the same as the year before.
While the decline in drunk driving deaths may be a positive sign, questions have been raised whether police “honestly“ record the cause of death in such cases. This is because cops often do not show a victim killed in a road accident as “under influence of alcohol“ so that his family can get the insurance claim.
Economy, crimes against
November 2016- September 2017
From: Pradeep Thakur, 74% of all cases registered by ED on fraud, graft, November 20, 2017: The Times of India
See graphic:
Crimes against the Economy, November 2016- September 2017
The real threat to the Indian economy is from frauds, cheating and corruption which accounted for 74% of all cases registeredby theEnforcement Directorate in the last one year and not as much from drugs, narcotics or arms smuggling, according to a study conducted by the agency.
About 83% of all money laundering cases registered by the ED in the last one year are those related to financial institutions and real estate, and not linked to gold, arms or explosives catch. Gold related cases accounted for a mere 7% while others were 10%, the ED study said.
In an example cited for corruption involving a senior IAS officer, the agency said the accused was aided by his chartered accountant to operate 446 benami bank accounts for 13 shell companies. The IAS officer had deposited Rs 39 crore in these accounts between 2006-09.
The ED conducted the sample study as a risk assessment exercise focusing on cases booked by the agency post demonetisation between November 2016 and September 2017. Itfound that frauds and cheating were the two major threats to the Indian economy while the proceeds of crime were laundered through financial institutions using shell companies and investments in real estate.
“The vicious circle of illegal wealth is not only involved in domestic circular trading but has moved out of Indian borders. Banking channels are used and remittances are made using shell companies to avoid compliances. Such activities are known as tradebased money laundering,” the study said expressing concern on how regulatory mechanism has failed to curb generation of black money.
2016: Delhi tops (5,942 cases)
December 1, 2017: The Times of India
Delhi reported the maximum number of cases of economic offences in 2016 among major cities. Logging 5,942 cases, the capital accounted for 19.3% of the total cases registered under this head, according to the data released by the National Crime Records Bureau on Thursday. With 4,742 cases, Jaipur was in second place, while the country’s financial capital, Mumbai, followed with 4,191 cases, giving the two cities 15.4% and 13.6% shares, respectively.
After including the 11,907 cases involving economic offences carried forward from the past years, 17,849 cases were investigated in Delhi in 2016. Unlike in the previous years, none of the cases was withdrawn by the state in 2016.
Of the four categories under which the cases of economic offences got reported, the most (4,957) related to cheating. Criminal breach of trust was behind 519 cases, while forgery led to 387 cases and counterfeiting to 79, the data showed.
The incidence of cyber crime was less in Delhi in 2016 than in 2014, going down to 90 from 224. The figure was just 2.2% of the 4,172 such cases reported in 19 major Indian cities in 2016. Mumbai reported the highest in this respect, 980 (23.5%). While 48 cases in Delhi were computer-related, no cases were lodged under the head of cyber terrorism.
“Illegal gain” was the motive under which most (34) of the cyber crime cases in Delhi were categorised. This was followed by “insult to modesty of women” with 15 cases. Forty-seven men were arrested in the capital, of whom 40 were charge-sheeted. Nobody was convicted and four were acquitted.
Corruption-related cases in Delhi slid to 16 in 2016 from 64 in 2014 and constituted just 0.4% of the cases reported in this category. In the event, 23 people were charge-sheeted and nine arrested, with two being convicted and seven acquitted.
Last year, of the 2,60,069 cases of offences against property, the most (1,26,467) were reported in Delhi, followed by Bengaluru with 10,578 cases and Mumbai with 9,839 cases.
Farmers’ protests/ Agrarian distress- riots
2016
The annual report on crime data in the country says 2016 was marked by a series of protests and riots in the country with the police kept busy controlling large unruly mobs.
According to the latest NCRB report, farmers took to streets in large numbers demanding their rights last year with 4,837 riots taking place across the country due to ‘agrarian’ crisis while only 2,683 such incidents were reported the previous year.
The maximum number of riots related to agrarian distress were reported from Bihar (2,342 cases), almost double the number registered in 2015 (1,156 cases). This was followed by 1,709 riots involving farmers reported from Uttar Pradesh in 2016, while only 752 such incidents were reported from the state in 2015.
Some other big states like Gujarat (123 cases), Jharkhand (197), Karnataka (231), Tamil Nadu (72), Madhya Pradesh (38) and Maharashtra (57) witnessed demonstrations and protests involving farmers.
Government officials admit that frustrated farmers have taken out their anger on roads in last couple of years with some major protests reported from states like Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, UP because of shrinking farm lands, failure of crops, poor irrigation facilities, bad seeds, drought, debts etc.
In all, 61,796 riots took place in the country last year in comparison to a total of 65,255 in 2015.
The data shows that police had to use extra force last year to control unruly mobs. While cops resorted to firing on people only 156 times in cases of riots and in self-defence in 2015, 184 incidents were reported in 2016 when cops had to fire at people.
The police used lathicharge only 327 times in 2015 while this number went up to 2,184 last year.
Most of the police firings in 2016 were reported from Jammu and Kashmir – with 42 incidents as compared to only seven in 2015. Police had to resort to lathicharge 1,959 times in J&K in 2016 as against only 207 incidents the previous year.
Farmers took to streets in large numbers demanding their rights in 2016, with 4,837 riots taking place across the country due to ‘agrarian’ crisis
Foreigners: crimes by and against
2014: Crimes by and against foreigners, state-wise
The Times of India, Sep 03 2015
Lisa Monteiro
Goa tops list of crimes against & by foreigners
With 73 cases, Goa stands unflatteringly at the top of the list of India's 28 states for crimes committed against foreigners in 2014. It has also topped the list for the highest number of foreigners, 27, arrested under the Narcotic Drugs & Psychotropic Substances Act last year. India's smallest state comes a distant second to Delhi (164) when the country's seven Union territories are added to the list. But the nation's capital city has recorded three cases lesser than Goa of foreigners caught under the NDPS Act last year.
`Crime in India', an annual release of the home ministry's National Crime Re cords Bureau (NCRB), has for the first time collected, collated and published statistics of crimes committed against foreigners and by foreigners in India. While the category known as foreign tourists has been specified, foreigners living in the country on business visas, or as students, or as long-stay visitors have been clubbed under the category `other than tourist for eigners'.
Goa received 5.14 lakh foreign tourists last year. Of the 73 crimes recorded against foreigners in the state, 66 were against such foreigners. Of these 73 crimes, a majority , at least 25, were thefts, all registered between sections 379 and 383 of IPC.
Following Goa, among the states, are Uttar Pradesh (66), Maharashtra (59), Rajasthan (36) and Karnataka (14) for crimes against foreigners. Union territory Delhi, with 164 crimes against foreigners tops the overall list.
India, as a whole, recorded 486 crimes against foreigners, of which 384 were against tourists.
2014: Crime against foreigners
The Times of India, May 05 2016
Delhi most unsafe for foreigners
The capital recorded the highest number of crimes against foreigners with 164 cases in 2014, according to data tabled in Rajya Sabha.
Delhi is followed by Goa which had registered 73 cases related to crimes against foreign nationals.
No such cases have surfaced in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Manipur in 2014, the data says. “ As per data collected from statesunion territories, a total of 486 cases were registered under crime against foreigners including students during the year 2014,“ said minister of state for home affairs Haribhai Chaudhary .
2016: Crimes by foreigners 3 times those against them
From: Chethan Kumar, Crimes by foreigners in India 3 times those against them: NCRB, December 8, 2017: The Times of India
India, often pegged as ‘unsafe for tourists’, sees three times more crimes committed by people from other countries when compared with offences against them and this holds good in almost all states, according to the latest National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) data.
Contrary to popular perception, in the three years between January 2014 and December 2016, a total of 3,977 crimes were committed by foreigners compared with 1,233 against them. Though some argue that “a crime is a crime”, others like former Karnataka DGP S T Ramesh say that it is important to compare crimes of the same nature as many that are committed by foreigners are treated under the Foreigners Act, 1946, and Passport Act, 1967.
‘Foreigners tied to 11 murders last yr’
An analysis of the crimewise breakup, which is only available for 2016, reveals a narrower gap between when serious crimes are compared. Eleven murder cases were registered against foreigners against 12 instances in which non-nationals were killed. Similarly, 75 cases were filed against foreigners as opposed to eight in which people from abroad were victims.
Also, foreigners were accused in 53 forgery cases, while in just three instances, they were victims. More than 80 cases were registered in 2016 alone against foreigners for illegally possessing, smuggling and/or selling banned narcotics in the country. Foreigners are accused in 12 cases of rape, while 19 of them have been victims.
Senior IPS officer P Harishekaran said: “Nature of the crimes being committed by foreigners is also changing. While there are regular crimes like theft, murder, assault on women, other than petty crimes, they are also indulging in white-collar crimes, especially cybercrime.” While agreeing that violations of the Foreigners Act and Passport Act are not as serious as the crimes under the IPC, Harishekaran, however, pointed out that there are an increasing number of foreigners indulging in crimes so as to extend their stay.
IPS officer Praveen Sood, who heads the internal security division (ISD), said there are challenges in dealing with the two kinds of cases — when a foreigner is a victim or the accused. “When foreigners are victims, they want to leave the country at the earliest and do not return to relive the traumatic experience, which affects convictions. On the other hand, When they are the accused, they tend to either slip out of India, or change their addresses,” Sood said.
Gulbarg Society Massacre
India Today.in , 14 years and counting “India Today” 16/6/2016
See graphic
Gunfire, accidental
See graphic, ' Casualties due to ‘celebratory firing’: 2012-2016 '
Highway crimes
2011-13
UP, Bihar top in highway crimes; Goa, J&K safest
Deeptiman Tiwary New Delhi:
The Times of India Sep 01 2014
You are most likely to be waylaid, robbed or become a victim of theft if you are driving on a national highway through Uttar Pradesh or Bihar. However, if you are crossing Goa, terror-infested Jammu & Kashmir or the insurgency-affected northeast, you are most likely to reach your destination safe and sound.
Government data on highway crimes show it is most dangerous to drive through UP and Bihar with both states registering highest number of highway robberies in the past three years. The two states together account for almost 50% of all highway robberies in the country .
At third, fourth and fifth are Odisha, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh accounting for around 18% of all robberies on the highway .
In the category of theft on highways, however, UP tops the chart by a huge margin. Of the over 82,000 cases of theft across the country on highways in the past three years, UP accounted for over 64,000 (almost 80%). Here too, Bihar is placed second but with just over 1,500 cases.
Experts cite a slew of factors leading to crimes on highways. Since both Uttar Pradesh and Bihar already have very high incidence of crime, it is natural it would be reflected on the highways. Secondly , for most states, maintaining day-to-day law and order within towns and cities takes priority over securing highways which suffer from lack of enough personnel and vehicles for highway patrol. Not far from Delhi, parts of highways in western UP are regularly shut off by UP police and traffic diverted through sleeping towns as they are unable to ensure safety along deserted stretches.
Goa has turned out to be the best state in terms of threat of highway robberies recording merely nine robberies in three years. The figure for thefts too is barely in double digits.
Hoax calls: 2012- 2014
The Times of India Dec 22 2014
Hoax calls of bomb threats at railway stations and airports hugely inconvenience both public and police. The reply to a recent Parliament question stated that there is no specific state-wise record maintained of such calls.The data collated to answer the particular question on prank calls regarding railways and airports shows that in the past three years, Maharashtra police received 66 such calls regarding railways the highest in the country. For the same period, Tamil Nadu police received four such misleading calls about Chennai airport -higher than other airports.
Interval between two incidents
2014
The Times of India, Sep 04 2015
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In 2014, about 29 lakh incidents of cognizable crime under IPC were reported in the country.That works out to an average time interval of just 11 seconds between two criminal acts. The time gap between two murders was 16 minutes, while kidnapping incidents had a frequency of 7 minutes. One rape took place in every 14 minutes, incidents of assault on women with the intent to outrage their modesty happened once every 6 minutes and a woman was killed every hour for dowry.Similarly, every fourth minute somebody died because of someone else's negligence.
2014: Accidental gunfire killed more people than terrorists
The Times of India, July 26, 2015
Deeptiman Tiwary
More people died in accidental gunfire in 2014 than in terrorist attacks or Maoist violence. While 561 people (including security forces and terrorists) died in various terror and Maoist-related incidents across the country, 633 died from accidental gunfire. Curiously, close to 50% of these cases happened in UP alone. MP accounted for about 18% of such incidents while Chhattisgarh had 11% fat alities of all deaths due to accidental gunfire. According the three states together accounted for close to 80% of to NCRB data, the three states together accounted for close to 80% of all such deaths. Police sources explained the difference in fatality in accidental gunfire and terror-related incidents to the sheer number of guns in the country. “Private gun licenses run into several lakhs. Even if there is a 0.1% probability of accidental gunfire, it would weigh more than the few hundred terrorists who enter the country with a purpose to kill,“ said an officer with a central force. As far as UP is concerned, police sources attributed the high number of fatal gunfire accidents in the state to its prevalent gun culture and the propensity of its people to randomly fire during social events.
Imprisonment rate
2017
From: March 23, 2018: The Times of India
See graphic:
India, China and the world- imprisonment rate, presumably in 2017
Liquor, poisonous, deaths from
2004-13
See graphic, ' Deaths caused by spurious liquor in India:2004- 13 '
Minors, Crime against
2008-14: Crimes against children
See graphic, 'Crime against children: 2008-14'
2014
The Times of India, Aug 20 2015
V Narayan
Crimes against minors: Maharashtra in bottom five
Cases of infanticide doubled in Maharashtra, complaints of rape of minors rose by 10.9% and kidnapping of children jumped by almost a thousand cases (54%) in 2014 from the year before, shows the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report released on Tuesday . Cases of abandonment of children dipped by 13% in the state but were still the highest in the country. The only bright spot: cases of foeticide dropped by 59% from 17 in 2013 to 7 the next year. Yet Maharashtra stayed fifth on the list of worst states in India on that count.
Children, the numbers suggest, are at high risk in the state. Experts blamed growing urbanization that is dis mantling old support systems for the rise in crime. “Apart from urbanization, it is the animal instincts in the accused that lead to targeting of minors as they are easy prey and will not be in a position to protest,“ said Dr Suleman Merchant, dean of Sion Hospital.
Psychiatrist Harish Shetty agreed. Children fall among the most vulnerable sections and cannot defend themselves. “They are objects for kidnapping and blackmail where financial gains can be huge. Moreover, children, particularly those unattended, become relatively invisible in a fast-paced world. The invisibility makes them prone to atrocities, crime and exploitation,“ said Shetty .
‘Moral’ policing,: India
See graphic, ' Some high profile instances of immoral policing in India in the early 21st century '
Motives
2012: Motives for crime
Statistics show love is the most potent killer
Bharti Jain, TNN | Sep 15, 2013
NEW DELHI: Love is what makes life worth living but, if the latest crime statistics are anything to go by; it remains a potent killer in India. While love affairs and sexual relations were the third most common cause for murders in the country in 2012 — after personal vendetta and property disputes — they accounted for most murders in seven states, including Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Punjab.
According to the crime data for 2012 — released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) — personal enmity was behind 3,877 of the 13,448 murders, where the figures clearly identify the motives (with the rest of the total 34,434 murders attributed simply to 'other causes'). Property disputes were the reason for 3,169 murders and love affairs and sexual relations led to 2,549 killings across the country.
The state-wise data is even more interesting. In what could make Cupid squirm, romantic liaisons surpassed personal vendetta and property disputes as the single biggest motive behind murders in Andhra Pradesh (445 murders), UP (325), Maharashtra (254), Punjab (83), Jammu & Kashmir (11), Himachal Pradesh (10) and Nagaland (2). The number of people killed for love in Tamil Nadu was 291, Gujarat (116) and Delhi (54) and was almost equal to murders caused by vendetta or property matters.
Haryana, infamous for honour killings, does not figure among the states where love is the biggest killer. As compared to 50 such killings, personal vendetta accounted for 218 murders.
The 'low scorers' were Kerala (3) and most of the north-eastern states. Love-driven murders were also significantly lower in Rajasthan and West Bengal (39 each) as compared to those arising out of vendetta and property disputes.
There are other revelations in the NCRB data on causes and motives of murders in 2012, which mostly stick to the trends seen since 2001. Bihar accounted for most murders over property disputes last year, which at 1,159 are nearly 36.6% of such killings across the country and 32.5% of the total murders in the state. Bihar recorded the highest murders over personal vendetta (570) and was next only to UP in terms of total murders. While UP recorded 4,966 murders last year, Bihar ranked second with 3,566 murders.
Assam recorded the highest murders due to casteist motives (41), accounting for 56% of the total murders in this category.
Dowry had its most victims in Odisha and West Bengal, claiming 415 and 252 lives, respectively. Andhra Pradesh (167), Maharashtra (130) and Bihar (102) also scored high on dowry deaths. Interestingly, a look at data since 2001 shows a sharp rise in dowry murders from 968 in 2001 to 1,339 in 2011 and 1,458 in 2012.
For those who thought witchcraft was an evil of yore, the 119 deaths it caused nationally in 2012 convey the stark reality. Most witchcraft murders were recorded in Odisha (32), followed by Jharkhand (26), Andhra Pradesh (24) and Bihar (13). The all-India figure in 2012 is much lower than the 240 recorded in 2011 or 126 in 2001.
Political motives claimed 120 lives across the country. No prizes for guessing that Bihar outperformed other states with 32 political murders. While Madhya Pradesh follows next with 28 such murders, West Bengal accounted 22. Political murders in 2012 were less than the 240 recorded in 2011 and 174 in 2001. The sharp decline is largely due to the fall in political killings in Andhra Pradesh from 39 in 2001 and 33 in 2011 to just 2 last year.
The overall picture
2016-17
From December 2, 2017: The Times of India
See graphic:
Frequency of crime in i) India and ii) Delhi, 2016-17
2017: An overview
Bharti Jain, Oct 22, 2019: The Times of India
From: Bharti Jain, Oct 22, 2019: The Times of India
Over 50 lakh cognisable crimes were registered across the country in 2017, showing a 3.6% rise over 2016. While 61.2% of the cases were registered under IPC, 38.8% share was of special and local laws (SLL) cases, according to crime statistics put out by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) for the year 2017.
Registration of IPC cases rose by 2.9% during 2017 and SLL cases by 4.8%, as compared to 2016. Murder cases registered across India in 2017 declined by almost 6% to 28,653 from 30,450 cases in 2016, according to NCRB data. ‘Disputes‘ was the motive behind the highest number of murder cases registered (7,898) in 2017, followed by ‘personal vendetta or enmity’ (4,660 cases) and gain (2,103 cases).
A total of 9.89 lakh cases of offences affecting the human body were filed, which accounted for 32.3% of total IPC crimes in 2017. Of these 9.89 lakh, hurt (4,94,617 cases) accounted for maximum cases (50%), followed by cases of causing death by negligence (1,42,794) and assault on women with intent to outrage her modesty (86,001) accounting for 14.4% and 8.7%, respectively.
NCRB reported that 95,893 cases of kidnapping & abduction were registered in 2017, an increase of 9.0% over 2016 (88,008 cases). During 2017, a total of 96,650 kidnapped or abducted persons (24,721 male and 71,929 female) were recovered of which 94,658 persons were recovered alive and 1,992 persons were dead.
As many as 8,051 cases of offences against public tranquillity were registered under various sections of IPC during 2017, out of which rioting (58,880 cases) accounted for 75.4% of total such cases.
Majority of cases under crimes against women out of total IPC crimes against women were registered under ‘cruelty by husband or his relatives’ (33.2%) followed by ‘assault on women with intent to outrage her modesty’ (27.3%), ‘kidnapping & abduction of women’ (21%) and ‘rape’ (10.3%).
Data on crime/atrocities against Scheduled Castes (SCs) revealed that simple hurt cases accounted for highest crimes (13,099 cases, or 30%) of total crimes against SCs, followed by cases under SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act (13.4%, or 5,775 cases) and criminal intimidation (7.6%, or 3,282 cases) during 2017. Out of three specified categories of economic offences (viz criminal breach of trust, forgery, cheating & fraud and counterfeiting), forgery, cheating and fraud accounted for most cases (1.27 lakh).
Crimes that are most—and least—likely to lead to a conviction
See graphic:
Crimes that are most—and least—likely to lead to a conviction
From December 14, 2017: The Times of India
Pendency of criminal cases, reducing
Five states start culling stale criminal cases
The Times of India, Sep 09 2015
Five states start culling stale criminal cases, cut pendency
Chargesheets filed 5 years ago, but parties now missing
At least five state governments have informed the law ministry that they have set up state-level committees headed by chief secretaries and consisting of registrars general of high courts as member to recommend withdrawal of petty criminal cases which are older than five years. Cases older than five years are routinely reviewed in the HCs of Himachal Pradesh, Madras, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bombay where the states have started withdrawing those cases in which charge-sheets had been filed five years ago (before 2009), but became ineffective for nonavailability of complainant, victim, witnesses or accused. The offences include petty crimes such as theft and pickpocketing, gambling, prohibition-related crimes and those related to traffic offences and bouncing of cheques. These form majority of the 2.60 crore cases pending in subordinate courts across the country .
The law ministry had earlier written to states and chief justices of HCs to review pen dency of cases in subordinate and HCs and set up committees to withdraw cases.
Recent data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) had said that in 2014 as many as 6,961 such cases were withdrawn by the states.According to guidelines issued by the MP government, cases in which charges had been filed five years ago will become `stale and ineffective' in 2015.
According to the NCRB, the 6,961 cases withdrawn by the state governments in 2014 were for offences under IPC.The study revealed more than 35,000 IPC cases were disposed of through plea bargaining -a concept introduced through a 2005 amendment in the CrPC to release undertrials through compounding of offences.
Pickpockets
93% pickpockets at Delhi metro stations are women
Jasjeev Gandhiok, 93% pickpockets caught at metro stns are women, January 2018: The Times of India
More than 90% of the pickpockets apprehended by CISF at metro stations in 2017 were women, according to data released.
Of the 1,311 people apprehended for pickpocketing, 1,222 (93.3%) were women. Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) officials said that they have formed antitheft squads to catch them, but the number of cases is not going down as not many arrests are being made.
“CISF does not have the power to file a case. We hand them over to the police, but if someone does not want to register a case against the pickpocket, then he/she is allowed to go...and then they return to a different metro station after some days. We have caught the same gang multiple times as well,” said a senior CISF official.
CISF officials said that pickpockets mainly target interchange stations and stations that see a lot of rush, which include Rajiv Chowk, Central Secretariat, Chandni Chowk, Chawri Bazar, New Delhi, among others. The women work in groups, often carrying children with them to distract commuters. Officials said that while one member pickpockets, others surround or stand near the target commuter to block the view of other passengers. The items found with them include laptops, phones, jewellery, wallets, purses and other accessories.
CISF is tasked with the security of Delhi Metro and its complexes, and special teams often take rides on the train with other commuters. In 2017, a total of 1,941 men were deboarded and fined by CISF for entering the women’s coach, according to the latest data. In the same year, CISF also provided help in 248 cases of women in distress at metro stations and handed over 153 missing children back to their parents.
CISF officials said that pickpockets mainly target interchange stations and ones that see a lot of rush. The women work in groups, often carrying children with them to distract commuters
Political agitations
2016: Uttarakhand, TN, Punjab top
Yogesh Kumar, This is why U’khand is protest capital of India, December 6, 2017: The Times of India
Dehradun:According to a report prepared by the Bureau of Police Research & Development, an agency under the ministry of home affairs, Uttarakhand might well lay claim to being the protest capital of India. The report says that the hill state witnessed 21,966 agitations in 2016, which was the highest number of protests held in the country last year.
Tamil Nadu, another front-ranker in agitations, witnessed over 17,043 protests while Punjab recorded 11,876 and national capital Delhi 7,904 agitations, according to the report. In 2015, Tamil Nadu had recorded 20,450 agitations and was at the top spot in the country in this respect followed by Punjab (13,089) and Uttarakhand (10,477). The report says 1,15,837 agitations took place across the country last year.
Interestingly, a large number of agitations have been led by government employees in most of the top-ranking states. While Uttarakhand recorded 5,838 protests by government officials, the number of such agitations in Punjab was 5,751and 3,225 in Tamil Nadu.
“Uttarakhand had been carved out of UP with a lot of hope that the new state will help address the problems faced by people. However, almost two decades later, many issues continue to be unaddressed. The anger and frustration of the people often erupts in the form of protests,” political analyst Subhash Sharma said, elaborating on the reasons why Uttarakhand sees a large number of agitations.
Hill state witnessed 21,966 agitations in 2016, Tamil Nadu saw 17,043 stirs while Punjab recorded 11,876 and Delhi 7,904 agitations
Rail travel, unsafe
2014
The Times of India, Aug 20 2015
Mahendra Singh
Rail travel has got even more unsafe
Even as railways tries to get control over maintenance of law and order in trains and station premises from state government, the latest government data could bolster its case as it shows security for travelers getting worse over the years. Crime in railways has now touched a new high as 392 cases of murder, 122 of rape, 440 of kidnapping and abduction, 1,128 of robbery , 80 of dacoity and 22,477 cases of theft has been reported across India in 2014, according to a National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) report.
In 2013, 270 cases of murder, 54 of rape, 1,096 of robbery and 48 of dacoity were reported. The number of thefts and robberies of passengers' belongings has reached 23,605 in 2014 as against 19,133 in 2013 in trains and railway premises.
In 2014, maximum cases of murder (120) in trains or railway premises were reported from West Bengal, followed by Bihar (60) and Uttar Pradesh (30). West Bengal tops the chart when it comes to cases of rape in rail premises (85), followed by Madhya Pradesh (11) and Maharashtra (6).
Interestingly, maximum cases of robbery were reported in Maharashtra (709), followed by Karnataka (96) and Delhi (62). Many in railways were surprised with only 27 case of robbery being reported from Uttar Pradesh and 22 from Bihar. Maharashtra also reported maximum number of theft cases (4,321), followed by UP (4,061) and Madhya Pradesh (3,013). Bihar reported only 1,496 such cases. The new dispensation in railways led by minister Suresh Prabhu is pushing for installing integrated security system aimed at improving security on railway premises, ensuring safety of the people and averting terror attacks. With law and order being a state subject, the security of passengers is dealt by state-controlled General Reserve Police (GRP) half of whose pay bill is paid by the transporter, but the blame of any untoward incident lands squarely on the railways.
Not satisfied with GRP's functioning, railways has been pushing for more powers to its own Railway Protection Force (RPF) for seamless policing at rail premises.Prabhu has said that the existing system of managing security by the GRP was causing glitches in seamless policing.
Region-wise: crime,
2012: Crime in India's 5 biggest cities
Delhi’s dubious distinction: Maximum murders
NCRB Report For 2012 Reveals That 408 People, Double The Figure In Mumbai, Murdered In City
Dwaipayan Ghosh TNN 2013/06/14
New Delhi: The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report for 2012 has confirmed the notion that it is still some time before Delhi can shed its ‘crime capital’ tag. Though the city showed some promise—doing much better than earlier years in containing street crime—the total number of grievous cases registered last year show that only robust policing can bring down crime. An analysis with other cities perhaps explains Delhi’s own set of problems.
According to the NCRB data, 408 murders took place in Delhi last year—highest among 88 cities—while there were only 215 murders in Mumbai, 180 in Chennai and 85 in Kolkata. However, Delhi Police claimed street crime was down, pointing out that Mumbai registered 29 dacoity and 1131 robbery cases while the capital recorded just 13 dacoity and 522 robberies in the same time. Similarly, though there were 369 instances of attempt to murder in the city —higher than 170 registered in Mumbai and 154 in Kolkata—it is Bangalore with 454 which tops the city table.
Certain crimes in Delhi are at least 10 times more than the other cities. Take kidnapping and abduction cases. While Delhi has registered 3274 registered cases, the next city to even come near this figure is Bangalore with 532 cases. Delhi Police though dismiss this as a “wrong analysis”. An officer explained: “We register a kidnapping case when any minor girl goes missing under directions of the court. Show me another city which does this.”
An interesting figure highlighted in the NCRB data is that a total of 20,99,170 complaints were received in Delhi in writing and on phone, including helplines, the most important one being 100. Yet, only a fraction, 60,397, was converted into cases. The corresponding figure for Maharashtra is 94,3994 and about 3,33,680 were turned into complaints.
Cops say NCRB has “confused” normal PCR calls with genuine distress calls. “Our PCR nerve centre receives over 50,000 calls a day. Will you count complaint of power failure or information sought on DTC routes as a genuine complaint?” asked a bemused cop. But then again, while the Maharashtra police took suo moto cognizance in 77,3376 cases, Delhi Police took suo moto cognizance in 13,318 cases.
In a reply to a question by BJP MLA Sahib Singh Chauhan (No. 237) about the total number of incidents of kidnapping, rape and dacoity in the city in the past 10 years, the Delhi government had stated that “bad and perfunctory investigation” along with “noncollection of scientific evidence during the course of investigation” were reasons behind the low conviction rate (around 30 per cent) in these heinous crimes.
“The large expansion of new colonies like Dwarka and Rohini and thousands of unplanned colonies is a critical crimogenic factor, particularly in respect of street crimes like robberies and snatching,” the written answer had said. The fact that most murders in the past three years have been reported from the border districts (268 of 521), the observation makes sense.
The cops list a number of new initiatives, including. a web-based information system for history-sheeters and a fingerprint bank of over 2.25 lakh criminals.
2014-16, crime in Delhi
See graphic:
Total crimes registered in Delhi, 2014-16
From: Delhi accounted for 39% of crimes among metro cities, December 1, 2017:The Times of India
Violent crimes: 2012
Violent crimes highest in UP in 2012
In violent crimes, UP tops list: National Crime Research Bureau
Isha Jain, TNN | Jun 22, 2013
The annual report of National Crime Research Bureau (NCRB) has revealed that Uttar Pradesh tops the list of states in terms of murders. Also, UP has earned the credit for maximum number of kidnappings, dowry related deaths and robberies in the year 2012. (Editor: UP is the most populous state of India. Hence absolute numbers do not convey the true picture. A better yardstick would be ‘violent crimes per 1,000 of population.’)
Not only this, but UP has for the third consecutive year retained its top position in violent crimes. The state reported a total of 33,824 incidents in 2012. This included 4,966 murders, 8,878 kidnappings, 3,159 robberies, 2,244 dowry deaths along with other major crimes, according to NCRB. In 2010, UP accorded 27,225 cases of violent crimes followed by 32,987 in 2011.
NCRB data revealed that it is not [a] specific age group which is committing crimes. Rather, people from all age groups are indulging in it. In 2012 alone, 10.7% of the total crimes were committed by people of above 50 years. Those between 18-30 years committed 46% crime. As high as 15% of the total offenders were women.
Social activists say that present situation of increasing crime is worrisome. "There is no stringent punishment for the criminals. As a result, they walk freely with head high on the streets," said an activist.
2015, city-wise
..
..
2015-16/ UP recorded highest number of heinous crimes
November 30, 2017: The Times of India
HIGHLIGHTS
Uttar Pradesh reported the highest number of cases of murder - 4,889 - accounting for 16.1% followed by Bihar where 2,581 (8.4%) murders took place last year.
Rape cases recorded an increase of 12.4% per cent from 34,651 cases in the country in 2015 to 38,947 in 2016.
Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of heinous crimes such as murder and those against women in 2016, according to the data of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
UP, the country's largest state, reported the highest number of cases of murder - 4,889 - accounting for 16.1 per cent followed by Bihar where 2,581 (8.4 per cent) murders took place last year.
UP registered 14.5 per cent (49,262 cases) of total cases of crime against women followed by West Bengal 9.6 per cent (32,513 cases) during 2016. Rape cases recorded an increase of 12.4% from 34,651 cases in the country in 2015 to 38,947 in 2016.
Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh reported the highest incidence of rape with 4,882 cases (12.5% ) and 4,816 (12.4%) followed by Maharashtra 4,189 (10.7%) last year, the NCRB data said.
UP recorded 9.5% of the total IPC crime reporter in the country followed by Madhya Pradesh (8.9%), Maharashtra (8.8%) and Kerala (8.7%).
A total of 37,37,870 people were arrested in the country in 2016 for various crimes while a total of 32,71,262 people were chargesheeted, 7,94,616 were convicted and 11,48,824 people were acquitted or discharged.
2016/ Delhi
Delhi accounted for 39% of crimes among metro cities, December 1, 2017:The Times of India
From: Neeraj Chauhan, December 1, 2017: The Times of India
See graphic:
Percentage share of crime cases, 2016- Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai
Data Show 33% Of Crimes Against Women in 2016 Were Reported In Capital
Delhi was unable to get rid of the tag of being the country’s ‘crime capital’ in 2016 as well.
Data released by the National Crime Records Bureau on Thursday showed that among metropolitan cities, Delhi City accounted for 38.8% of the crimes reported under the Indian Penal Code. Bengaluru and Mumbai were placed second and third, with 8.9% and 7.7% of the cases, respectively.
With 21.8% share of reported homicides (479 of 2,194 cases), the capital recorded the most murders, more than Bengaluru (10.4%, 229 cases) and Patna (8.9%, 195 cases).
Of the 41,761 cases of crime against women, 13,803 took place in Delhi, implying a 33% incidence. Mumbai comparably was kinder to women with 5,128 cases or 12.3% of the total. Almost 40% of the rapes took place in the capital, as also nearly 29% of cases related to dowry deaths and cruelty by husband or his relatives.
And given the statistics, Delhi was deemed to have the highest crime rate (182.1 crimes per lakh population) against the national average of 77.2.
The number of crimes against foreigners in Delhi went up to 154 (40.3% of crimes under this head). This was higher than the 147 of 2015, though lower than the 164 registered in 2014. The maximum kidnappings and abductions too were reported from the capital. With 5,453 cases, or 48.3%, Delhi was far ahead of Mumbai (16.6% 1,876 cases) and Bengaluru (7.8%, 879 cases).
The highest number of offences affecting the human body among the metro cities were logged in Delhi (25.0%), followed by Mumbai (10.8%) and Bengaluru (8.5%). Delhi was the locale for the most thefts too, accounting for 74,293 of the 1,94,558 cases for a 38.2% share. Of these, 37,147 involved the vehicle thefts. Delhi was followed in this respect by Bengaluru (5,843) and Jaipur (5,271).
Overall, police in Delhi registered 3,14,587 cases for investigation, followed by Mumbai with 1,07,079 cases and Bengaluru with 64,771cases.
The citywise comparisons, however, had a respite for the capital in crimes against senior citizens, where Mumbai led with 1,218 cases
(34.2%), and Delhi was in second place (642 cases, 18%), followed by Ahmedabad (362 cases 10.2%) in third.
Asked to respond, Delhi Police maintained that the rise in the numbers of registered crime was actually the fallout of several of its initiatives. “Proactive action by police, e-firs and encouraging people to lodge FIRs have all resulted in easy registration of crime in Delhi,” explained Dependra Pathak, chief spokesperson, Delhi Police.
The cops also cited data showing a decline of 24% in heinous crimes this year and case resolution percentage jumped from 69% to 85%.
2016/ 10 crimes that declined
See graphic:
10 crimes that declined in 2016
From December 7, 2017: The Times of India
Repeat offenders (recidivists)
2015
In Jharkhand, every third convict sentenced is a repeat offender, Sep 24 2016 : The Times of India
Rate of repeat criminal offence, called recidivism, is often the measure of the effect of jail sentence on a convict.High recidivism would, thus, mean that incarceration hasn't led to reform. Recently released data from the National Crime Records Bureau shows that among major states, Jharkhand has the highest rate of repeat offenders and Odisha the lowest
See graphic:
Repeat offenders in major states, 2015
2016
See graphic:
Percentage of repeat offenders in India, 2016; Arrest of juveniles, 2016, state-wise
From: December 13, 2017: The Times of India
Robberies
2014
The Times of India, Aug 20 2015
Dipak Dash
Road dacoity cases highest in Maha, Bihar, UP
Indian roads and highways not only account for highest number of deaths due to accidents across the world, but they are also vulnerable to crime. The worst performing states in this regard are Maharashtra, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, which have recorded highest numbers of dacoity , robbery , burglary and thefts. According to the data released by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) for last year, the total loss in terms of value of the items or cash stolen and robbed was about Rs 588 crore.
The analysis of recorded crimes indicates that one fourth of total dacoities and almost 40% of the robberies reported in 2014 happened on roads and highways.
While there were reports of total 1,703 dacoities across all roads and highways in the country , Bihar recorded maximum number of such cases (213), followed by Maharashtra. Roads and highways in Uttar Pradesh registered 76 dacoities.
Senior citizens, Crime against
2014: Crimes against senior citizens in India
The Times of India, Aug 20 2015
Delhi most dangerous city for senior citizens
Deeptiman Tiwary
In an indication of the vulnerability of elderly people to violent crimes, the latest data from National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) shows that more than 1,100 senior citizens were murdered while just as many were robbed. The number of such crimes came second only to cheating which claimed over 1,500 elderly victims. NCRB has for the first time tabulated data on crimes against senior citizens. According to the data for 2014, most number of elderly were killed in UP (174), Tamil Nadu (173) and Maharashtra (170).Among large states Bihar and Odisha, turned out to be safest for senior citizens with elderly murder rates per one lakh of population in these states being recorded at 0.2 each.
As many as 58 rapes were committed on elderly women across the country last year.
As far as robberies are concerned, most elderly victims turned out to be from Maharashtra (627).
The data shows Delhi as the most unsafe city . With a rate of 89 crimes per one lakh elderly population, senior citizens in the national capital are almost five times more likely to become victims of a crime than the rest of the country.
2015: Delhi most unsafe
The Times of India, Sep 05 2016
Delhi has been categorised for the second consecutive year as the most unsafe city for senior citizens in 2015, the data from “Crime in India“ report released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) said.
With a rate of 108.8 crimes per 100,000 elderly population, senior citizens in the capital are almost five times more likely to become victims of a crime than the rest of the country. The national rate for such crimes stands at 20.
This category is followed by Madhya Pradesh 60.5 (3,456 cases), Chhattisgarh 53.7 (1,077 cases) and Andhra Pradesh 51.6 (2,495 cases).
Mostly senior citizens residing in the city were victims of crimes like robbery (145 cases), cheating (123), murder (14), grievous hurt (9), extortion (3) attempt to murder (2), attempt to commit culpable homicide (2), rape (1), dacoity (2) and the maximum 947 of “other IPC crimes“.
In terms of number, a total of 1,248 cases of crime against senior citizens were registered in Delhi in 2015.
Sexual abuse
2015: Delhi
The Times of India, Sep 04 2016
Somreet Bhattacharya
In Delhi, 3 kids face sex abuse daily: NCRB data
With 927 incidents of child rapes reported in 2015, Delhi has no doubt become most unsafe for children. According to the latest National Crime Records Bureau data, at least three cases of rape took place every day in 2015, though police and child rights activists agree that the actual number could be much bigger.
With Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act facilitating the registration of complaints, the figures are going up. Among those raped last year, 585 were below the age of 16. Of them, 95% were assaulted by people known to them. Police claimed that almost all the accused were arrested within 24 hours of the incident.
The police, however, add that bringing paedophiles to book isn't easy. “The number of cases being reported has increased marginally due to the interaction programmes we conducted. But the rate of reporting is still much lower than expected,“ said a senior police officer. Many offenders get away because yo unger children cannot distinguish between an affectionate hug and an embrace loaded with sexual intent.
Even when uneasy , they usually hesitate to complain. In addition, parents themselves rarely approach the police whenever a child opens up to them. On August 23, an eight-year-old girl was kidnapped from outside her house near the Yamuna at Mandawali and raped by three men who had a grudge against her brother. The three were identified by the girl and police hauled them in. A week later, a three-yearold, visiting her uncle's house in Govindpuri, was ravaged and tortured. On Friday , an 11-month-old infant was raped in Vikaspuri. According to psychiatrist Avdesh Sharma, in almost all cases, the rapist is found to have acted on an impulse. “We have noticed that the accused are people close to the victim, who feel reassured that the proximity to the victims will keep them from reporting the matter. This is a dangerous trend,“ said Sharma.
According to the NCRB data, almost all the perpetrators in the 86 cases registered under POCSO Act in 2015 were convicted. The statistics showed that 60.83% of the cases were reported from the poorer sections of society. What is alarming is that around 20% of the criminals involved in sexually abusing children are themselves juveniles.
Of the 7,730 cases of abduction reported in Delhi last year, around 60% were of children. Police said in most of these cases, the children were sexually assaulted. According to the Centre for Child Rights, 53.2% of all children are sexually abused, with 20.9% suffering severe abuse. These go unreported due to the stigma attached to rape. “It is a baffling trend that cannot be addressed by just policing activities,“ said the NGO's Enakshi Ganguli.
Statistics on crime
Shortcomings
,_2016;_juvenile_crime_rate,_2015-16;_kidnappings.jpg)
From: Atul Thakur, Three googlies make India’s crime statistics deceptive, December 25, 2017: The Times of India
Old & Wrong Popn Figures, Misleading Classifications Distort Results
Here’s a safe bet to make: the crime rate in India’s big cities will fall in 2021. Every year, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) presents data for the number of crime incidents in Indian cities.
The bureau also provides crime rates, which is the number of crime incidents per lakh of population. Giving the rate is a good idea because it allows us to compare cities with very different population sizes. The catch, however, is that NCRB does not change the population of cities between censuses that take place every 10 years. As a result, the crime rate in cities falls sharply once in 10 years, not because of better policing but because the denominator –population—suddenly sees a jump every 10 years.
The analysis of crime rates for 17 large cities (with 2 million-plus population) shows that 14 of them reported a drastic fall in their crime rates in 2011 when compared with 2010.
That’s because for all the years between 2001and 2010, it used 2001 population data to calculate the crime rate.
Similarly, 2011 census data has been used for all subsequent years and will continue to be used till the 2021 census figures are available. This effectively makes crime rates for cities meaningless.
Kidnapping-for-marriage data doesn’t factor in elopements
Many who report on the data ignore this, though to be fair the NCRB makes it clear it is using population data from the last census. For states, UTs and the country as a whole, the bureau uses projected population data for the year to calculate crime rates, which makes them meaningful.
Because of the fixed denominator in crime rate calculations, the actual rates would be lower than the reported rates. How much of a difference does it make? Indicative crime rates for these cities for 2016 calculated after alinear projection of population data (based on the actual population growth between 2001and 2011) suggests the actual crime rate would be significantly lower. For instance, Delhi, dubbed the country’s crime capital, would see a fall in its crime rate by 139.1 points. The rates for Indore, Kochi and Kozhikode would also fall by over 100 points.
Crime rates for crimes against senior citizens, schedule castes and schedule tribes are also calculated on the census population and hence suffer from the same problem. Rates for juvenile crime for 2016 are also not comparable with the previous year’s data. Going by the reported figures, the crime rate for juvenile delinquents was 2.5 in 2015, which increased to 8 in the latest report. However, the earlier rate was calculated on the entire population base
(1.26 billion) while for 2016 it is calculated on the basis of 446 million — the estimated child population for 2014. Again, this makes comparisons meaningless. Similarly, it makes a sensational headline that 37.7% of kidnappings were done for marriage. However, the overwhelming bulk of these cases are filed by parents of consenting adults whose daughters have eloped. Thus, these are actually not kidnappings at all.
Here’s another googly in the fine print. The section under the Prevention of Corruption Act & related sections of the IPC cases show that cases declined from 5,250 in 2015 to 4,439 for 2016. A dramatic clean-up? Sadly, no. The two numbers are not comparable because the latest figures exclude cases registered by the CBI.
Weapons, illegal: India
2012-June 2015: Illegal weapons seized
See graphic, ' States with more than 500 illegal weapons seized/confiscated and persons arrested '
Women, Crime against
2014
The Times of India, Aug 20 2015
Dwaipayan Ghosh
Bengal record of women's safety worst
It was in 2004 that Bengal had perched itself on the top half of the list of crimes against women. Ten years have passed in between but the state has failed to shed its `unsafe' tag. The NCRB data shows Bengal is still among the worst five performers as far as molestation, domestic violence, kidnapping of girls and human trafficking are concerned. Rape cases have declined, but the state still poses a threat to women, and is safer only than UP.
Police brass claimed awareness has increased and they are focused on their `commitment' towards women safety , but women organizations have a different story to tell. They attribute the rise in attack to political ineptitude and the general sense of lawlessness.
The findings show Kolkata has emerged a better performer but there are still certain specific crimes, like voyeurism and stalking, where the city continues to register cases on a par with Delhi.
Tamil Nadu, Kerala
The Times of India, May 03 2016
Subodh Varma
Kerala and Tamil Nadu, headed for elections, show stark con trast in ter ms of violence against women. Violent crimes like rape and assault in particular are at high levels in Kerala, almost in the same league as north Indian states with traditionally high levels.
In Kerala, the rate of crimes against women is 63 per lakh population, higher than the national average of 56.3, and over three times the rate for neighbouring Tamil Nadu (18.4), as per National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). Rate of crimes is the number of incidents per lakh population. This measure enables comparison between states with unequal populations.
This is ironic because in Kerala, women are not only half the electorate as elsewhere, but are much more organised in various ways. The state has one of the largest community-based women's networks called Kudumbashree with over 41 lakh members.
Pressure from the women's movement paved the way for the government's move to make prohibition a reality: Alcoholism being directly linked with violence against women. It is expected that as poll campaign gathers pace, the issue of violence and crimes against women will be taken up.
Kerala's violence is more astonishing as on most other parameters, it is way ahead of other states -highest literacy (94%), highest women's literacy (92%), a healthy sex ratio at birth (966), and India's lowest maternal mortality rate of 167. Women are more involved in politics, especially panchayats; they have longer years of education, and Kerala has a huge network of poor women organised in self-help groups.
While TN is not bad in most of these indicators, it is not as good as Kerala. And yet, rape incidents are six times lower, assaults eight times lower and domestic violence three times lower in TN compared to Kerala. Even more shocking is that the violence against women is growing at a faster clip in Kerala than in TN, and in fact, is one of the country's fastest growing. Between 2005 and 2014, rate of rape grew by a stagger ing 436%, assaults 246%, sexual har assment 980% and cases of cruelty by husband by 82%. Overall, crimes against women zoomed by 210% in Kerala, compared to 38% in Tamil Nadu, and 299% for India as a whole.
Part of this high levels of violence could be because of better report ing, says Praveena Kodoth, professor at Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram.
“Better education, stronger com munity networks enable women to set aside patriarchal pressures and report violent crimes. Having said that, there's no denying that there's a high degree of violence against women in Kerala, as primary studies have shown too,“ she told, adding “Studies have shown that women who have property rights face less violence compared to those that don't and increased alienation of such rights has perhaps heightened violence,“ she added.
Neetha P of Delhi's Centre for Wom en's Development Studies underscored the role played by a religious or com munity-based educational institution system in Kerala to creating a more submissive generation of women.
She also pointed at the declining levels of employment in Kerala, espe cially for women, as one of the factors contributing to the ethos of violence.
Women, crimes by
2017
V Narayan, Mumbai saw most crimes by elderly women, December 2, 2017: The Times of India
‘Social Environment To Be Blamed’
In December 2016, when city police launched a search for a two-year-old boy kidnapped from his home in Mankhurd, the investigation led them to four women—two of them middle-aged—who allegedly sold him to an elderly childless couple in Goa.
This was not a lone case as the city saw several such crimes by women last year. When compared to other cities, Mumbai recorded the highest number of crimes by middle-aged (45-59 years) and elderly women (60 years and above) last year, according to the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data. Of the total 3,305 women arrested in Mumbai in 2016 for crimes, 103 were elderly and 504 middle-aged. Their misdemeanors included cruelty to husbands and their relatives, unlawful assembly, riots, murder, death by negligence, dowry deaths, rash driving, assault and kidnapping.
Among 19 cities with over 2 million population, Chennai has the maximum women on the wrong side of the law (6,678), followed by Mumbai and Bengaluru (1,758).When it comes to male offenders, on the other hand, Mumbai presents a less hostile picture: it is placed fourth, with 36,212 such cases.
Analysing the reasons for women taking to crime, a senior IPS officer requesting anonymity said they showed a high degree of recidivism. “Very few women manage to give up crime after their release from prison; 99.9% of them turn hardened criminals. Many form gangs specialising in pick-pocketing, theft and economic offences.” The officer also said the percentage of women arrested should be seen in the context of the bigger picture of crime in the metropolis. According to the NCRB report, the 3,305 offences registered against women constitute 8% of the total 39,517 cases recorded in Mumbai last year.
Former Director General of Police Pravin Dixit pointed out that the number of women arrested for property-related offences may be attributed to family exigencies and poverty. “Some sections may be (involved in offences) due to habit as a family business. Those arrested for physical violence may be retaliating against atrocities,” said Dixit. “Maharashtra has been a progressive state because of which many women from all over the country come to the state for improved economic opportunities. And many of them resort to crime to make a quick buck here,” he added.
Criminal lawyer Majeed Memon said women are often easy prey and also very vulnerable to injustice. “If injustice becomes perpetual, she gets desperate and picks up a weapon,” said Memon. Activist Arati Chauhan said social environment was also responsible for women resorting to crime. “Discrimination, abuse, rape, family problems have increased for women... In many cases we find their men to be alcoholics without work, which forces them to commit an offence,” said Chauhan.
