The Haryana police have claimed a decline in the crime by 7.88 per cent in the first six month of the year as compared to the crime recorded between January and June 2018. Police also claimed while the kidnapping incidents reduced by 25 per cent, the cases of murder attempt were also controlled.
Haryana Director General of police Manoj Yadava said that a total of 23,834 cases pertaining to attempt to murder, kidnapping, dacoity, assault, riots, theft, road accidents etc. were registered between January and June 2019, whereas 25,874 cases were reported during the same period in 2018.
However, according to the latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRV), Haryana ranks third (next only to Kerala, Delhi) as regards crime rate across all states and union territories. However, these figures relate to year 2017. Crime rate means the number of crime cases per lakh of population.
Offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), special and local laws are taken into account for calculating the crime rate. Kerala recorded a crime rate of 1,818.4 in 2017 (1.84 lakh crime cases), while it was 1,107.1 in case of Delhi (2.44 lakh cases). Haryana recorded a crime rate of 802.9 (2.24 lakh cases), an increase of 57.1 per cent over the numbers for 2016.
Nagaland had the lowest crime rate of 64.4, while the all-India rate stood at 388.6. Over all, Uttar Pradesh accounted for 10.1 per cent of the total crimes under the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Murder cases registered a decline of 5.9 per cent in 2017.
As many as 28,653 killings were recorded in 2017, down from 30,450 in 2016, the NCRB report said. Cases of kidnapping and abductions saw a 9 per cent increase in 2017, with 95,893 cases registered against 88,008 in 2016. The bureau said that the 2017 report included several new crime heads under the IPC, including abetment, criminal intimidation, simple hurt, credit/debit card fraud, missing children deemed as kidnapped, kidnapping and abduction for begging, etc.
Total number of rape cases was 32,599 in 2017, while total number of victims was 33,658, out of which 10,221 were girl/child victims. This is the lowest since 2013, when number of cases and victims was 33,707 and 33,764 (according to NCRB data given in CMIE).
The conviction rate for crimes against women (cases convicted as percentage of total cases where trial was completed) was 24.5 per cent in India in the year 2017. For Delhi, it was 35 per cent. Gujarat and West Bengal were the worst performers, with conviction rates of 3.1 per cent and 3.2 per cent.
In the latest report, the majority of cases were filed under the category ‘cruelty by husband or his relatives’ (33.2 per cent) followed by ‘assault on women with intent to outrage her modesty’ (27.3 per cent). The number of offences against the state was 9,013 in 2017, compared to 6,040 in 2015 and 6,986 in 2016. The number of sedition cases in 2017 was 51. Sedition as a separate category was not given in the 2016 report. The number of cases under the Official Secrets Act has come down from 30 to 18 between 2016 and 2017.
The 2017 Crime in India report has seen a much longer data collection period (it began in August 2018 and continued till July 2019). For the 2016 report, this period was January-February 2017 to September 2017. The latest NCRB report said that greater detailing was ensured with respect to the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the Prevention of Corruption Act.
In 2017, Haryana recorded 1,072 murders and 1,099 rapes. The state registered 2,408 cases of rioting, 26,234 thefts, 1,277 robberies, 196 dacoities, 4,169 cases of crime against children and 2,200 cases under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. In 2016, Haryana ranked fifth on the crime rate table.
As regards crime against women, Haryana ranked fifth in the country with 88.7 such cases per lakh of women population. Assam (143.3), Delhi (133.3), Telangana (94.7) and Odisha (94.5) ranked ahead of Haryana on the list. In 2017, Haryana reported 11,370 cases of crime against women — an increase of 15.56 per cent over 2016 figures. In 2016, the state had ranked sixth. Nagaland was the safest for women. Despite being a small state, Haryana in 2017 reported the fourth highest number of gang rapes at 159. Uttar Pradesh reported the highest number of gang rapes at 676. In 2016 also, Haryana was the fourth worst with 191 gang rapes.
Sadly with 14 rape cases a month, Gurugram lives up to its notoriety when it comes to crime against women. This year, the city has recorded 126 rape cases till September whereas the number was 103 during the corresponding period last year.
According to police data, the first nine months saw a 22.3 per cent rise in rape cases in the city. Sexual crimes against children rose by 10.4 per cent while cases of sexual harassment and molestation fell by 17.8 per cent. The number of gang rape cases during the period remained the same. While sexual crime cases against children surged to 138 till September, against 125 last year, the number of gang rape cases remains the same at eight.
In contrast, as many as 101 cases of molestation and sexual harassment have been registered in the first nine months, while the number was 123 last year. Child abduction cases have also fallen to 16, against last year’s 35. The significant rise in the crime rate against women is a grim reminder to how things have become worse as also to the grim and arduous battle still ahead towards making the country a safe place for its women.
The government statistics are alarming: from just under 25,000 rape cases reported to the police in 2012, they rose to more than 38,000 in 2016. In 2017, on an average, more than 90 rapes a day were reported. Wrapped in these figures is the encouraging story of how more and more women are coming out and gathering the courage to call out the criminals who have abused and violated them.
As per the National Crime Records Bureau data, Haryana had 191 cases of gang-rape in 2016, the highest among all states. While the national average for gang-rapes was 0.3, it was 1.5 for Haryana. In the state, Gurugram earned the notoriety of seeing the maximum number of rape and murder cases in the last five years. Compared to last year, the Millennial City this year registered a shameful 22.3 per cent rise in rape cases in the first nine months.
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