The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) under the Ministry of Home Affairs recently released their ‘Crime in India 2017.’
Based on the report, India as a whole has seen a decline in the crime rate.
A total of 50,07,044 cognizable crimes comprising 30,62,579 Indian Penal Code (IPC) crimes and 19,44,465 Special & Local Laws (SLL) crimes were registered in 2017, showing an increase of 3.6% in registration of cases over 2016 (48,31,515 cases).
During 2017, registration of cases under IPC have increased by 2.9% and SLL crimes by 4.8% over 2016 and percentage share of IPC was 61.2% while percentage share of SLL cases was 38.8% of total cognizable crimes during 2017.
Further, 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’ (21.0%) and ‘Rape’ (10.3%).
And in percentage terms, major crime heads under ‘Crime Against Children’ during 2017 were kidnapping & abduction (42.0%) and cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (25.3%) including child rape.
A total of 3,55,994 notes having face value of Rs. 28,10,19,294 were seized under Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) during 2017.
Assam becoming increasingly unsafe
However, while the scenario in India has improved, Assam has been rated as one of the worst performing in multiple categories and is thus, becoming increasingly unsafe.
According to the report, Assam recorded the highest crime rate in all northeastern states in both Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Special Acts & Locals Laws (SSL) crimes and has also seen an increase for the same over the years. In 2015, it recorded 1,07,465 cases; in 2016, it recorded 1,07,014 cases and in 2017, 1,09,952 cases.
Assam has topped the list in the ‘Cruelty by husband/relatives’ category with a 60.9 percent rate, leaving behind places such as Delhi (27.9), Haryana (26) and Uttar Pradesh (12). It should be noted that Assam recorded a rate four times higher than the all India rate which stands at 16.8.
Further, in cases of ‘Kidnapping & Abduction,’ Assam ranked second at 23.9 percent, with the all India crime rate being 7.4 percent.
According to the report, the situation in Assam has worsened the most in the whole country. In this category, Delhi ranked first at 27.6 percent and Haryana ranked third at 15.7 percent.
In cases of ‘Murder & Culpable Homicide,’ Assam came in third, tied with Chattisgarh at 3.6 percent (incidents per one lakh population) whereas the all India crime rate stands at 2.5 percent.
In cases of ‘Robbery and Dacoity,’ Assam ranked fifth at 3.8 percent, following Delhi (14.4), Maharashtra (5.8), Odisha (5.8) and Karnataka (3.9). The all India rate for this category stands at 2.7 percent.
In cases of ‘Sexual Assault,’ Assam ranked seventh with a 22.2 percent rate, ahead of Jammu & Kashmir and Telangana. The all India percent rate is 13.8.
In cases of ‘Sexual Harassment,’ Assam ranked 10th at 0.7 percent rate with the all India rate being 1.2.
