The Hindu : Kerala is the most crime-prone State: NCRB

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Feb 09, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Kerala is the most crime-prone State: NCRB

By M. Harish Govind

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, FEB. 8. Kerala has the dubious distinction of being the most crime-prone State in the country, with 326.2 crimes being recorded per one lakh population in 2001 as against a national average of 172.3, according to the latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

In contrast, neighbouring States such as Tamil Nadu (249.2), Karnataka (206.9) and Andhra Pradesh (171.8) reported a much lower crime rate. Madhya Pradesh, with a crime rate of 301 per one lakh population, comes second and Rajasthan, with a rate of 275, comes third. Kerala reported a total of 1,03,847 crimes during 2001.

The following is the break-up of the incidence of some of the cognisable crimes under the IPC in Kerala during the year in question: murder: 472; attempted murder: 615; rape: 562; kidnapping and abduction: 183; dacoity: 176; robbery: 517; burglary: 4,474; theft: 5,441; riots: 8,108; criminal breach of trust: 428; cheating: 2,756; counterfeiting: 239; arson: 768; hurt: 19,829; dowry deaths: 27; molestation: 1,942; sexual harassment: 81 and cruelty by husband and relatives: 2,561.

According to the report, Kerala contributes a comparatively high share of 10.23 per cent of the total number of crimes against public order, namely, rioting and arson, committed in the country. A total of 8,108 cases of rioting and 2,768 cases of arson were registered in the State during 2001.

Even much larger States like Andhra Pradesh (4.46 per cent), Karnataka (8.11), Tamil Nadu (7.12), Uttar Pradesh (9.4), West Bengal (3.69) and Maharashtra (9.14) had a smaller national share than Kerala as far as crimes against public order were concerned.

Only Rajasthan, with a share of 14.18 per cent and Bihar, with 10.5 per cent, were above Kerala in this regard.

The police received a total of 1,94,873 complaints, based on which they registered 1,35,445 cases under the IPC and Special and Local Laws, which means that only about 70 per cent of the complaints received were registered by the police. The percentage of complaints, which go unregistered, is seen to be much higher in Kerala than in most other States. Karnataka (93.6 per cent), West Bengal (95.5 per cent) and Tamil Nadu (98.5 per cent), Bihar (100 per cent) and Assam (100 per cent) all had a much better record than Kerala in the matter of registration of cases.

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