2017’s report card

2017’s report card

Murder rates have fallen long term. But the delay in releasing crime data is inexcusable.

If one takes a long or even a medium-term view of things, the 2017 NCRB crime report offers some glad tidings. India’s murder rate, at 2.49 per lakh population in 2017, has steadily gone down since 1992 – to reach its lowest ever rate since 1963. Robbery cases also plunged from 2015 to 2017. The number of rape and sexual harassment cases lodged in 2017 reported a sharp fall from 2015 after increasing in 2016.

That was the good news, now the bad news. Why has NCRB released crime data for 2017 at the fag end of 2019? The delay is unacceptable. The “Crime In India” report published since 1953 is an important document revealing the condition of law and order in the country and the success and failure of governments in bringing offenders to book. Many Indian cities, especially Delhi, are currently reporting a sharp spike in robberies. For citizens facing a harrowing time in the present, 2017 data isn’t helping. The 2018 crime data should also be released forthwith and the 2019 report mustn’t wait till 2021.

While the murder rate is down, crime rate for attempt to commit murder is up from 3.7 in 2015 to 4.0 in 2017. States topping crime charts like Jharkhand and Haryana in murder, Bengal and Bihar in attempt to murder, Delhi and Assam in kidnapping and abduction, Delhi and Maharashtra in robbery, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in rape, Odisha and Delhi in sexual assault have their work cut out.

Given India’s socio-economic and regional disparities, and the uneven functioning of police across states, cities and rural areas some of the data, especially relating to crimes against women, may conceal more than they reveal. Police in places like Delhi, Mumbai and Kerala owing to higher rights awareness and media penetration could be registering more complaints, which reflects as high crime rates. Instead of police becoming defensive, emphasis must be on promptly filing chargesheets, quick trials and ensuring convictions. For instance, the data indicates that in 86% of rape cases police file chargesheets, but trial courts are able to dispose of only 13% of pending rape cases. Allocating more resources to police and judiciary, as well as enhancing their efficiency, is the need of the hour. As the falling murder rate shows, steady progress is possible if state capacity improves.