Assam Police attributed the crime rate to high reporting and registration of cases, especially in crimes against women.
Assam Police attributed the crime rate to high reporting and registration of cases, especially in crimes against women.
The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data for 2021 showed, “Assam has retained the top spot in recording the highest number of violent crimes in the country, followed by Delhi consistently except in 2020.”
The data also shows that Assam has maintained the trend of registering an increase in such crimes after a decline in the previous year.
“But the crime rate of 76.6 cases per one lakh population – slightly higher than 73.7 cases in 2020 – does not give a complete picture,” said Assam Police officials. He attributed this figure to higher reporting and registration of cases, especially in crimes against women.
An analysis of NCRB data since 2017 showed that Assam recorded 78.6 cases of violent crimes per one lakh people across all states and union territories across the country, followed by Delhi (60.6) and West Bengal (51.4). ) was in place. The number of violent cases in Assam and Delhi rose to 86.4 and 63.6 in 2018, while Tripura with 62 cases overtook West Bengal to rank third.
These three states maintained their position in 2019, but recorded a decline in violent cases – 83.4 in Assam, 58.2 in Delhi and 53.6 in Tripura.
In 2021, West Bengal stood second with 51.2 cases after Assam’s 73.7, while Delhi stood third with 49.2 cases. Delhi and West Bengal exchanged places in 2021 with 57 and 48.7 cases per one lakh population respectively.
crime against women
As per NCRB data for 2021, Assam had 168.3 cases of crime against women per one lakh people, which is the highest in India. Delhi stood second with 147.6 and Odisha with 137.8.
The data did not reveal anything new. Assam has consistently topped in crimes against women. The rate was 143.2 in 2017, 166 in 2018, 155 in 2019 and 154.3 in 2020.
“The main reason for the high crime rate we have is that we do not hesitate to register cases of any kind of crime, especially against women who are in any way to register a case of domestic violence, sexual assault, physical offence. Time can go on. misbehavior or any other kind of offence,” told AYV Krishna, Additional Director General of Police (CID) Hindu,
“More than 300 police stations have a women’s help desk with a dedicated officer and qualified counselors appointed by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, with whom the Assam Police has signed MoUs,” he said.
“One must also note that the closure rate of cases in Assam after thorough investigation is also high and not all registered cases are charge-sheeted (42.4 as compared to 91.8 cases in Andaman and Nicobar Islands in 2021). With a crime rate of 21.9 per one lakh people. This is because we do not discourage the complainants to come forward,” said Mr. Krishna.
Assam recorded 29,046 total cases of crime against women in 2021, an increase of 10.22 per cent from 26,352 reported in the state in 2020. This figure was 30,025 in 2019, which was 27,687 in 2018.
In 2021, Assam recorded 46 cases of rape or gang rape as well as murder, two behind topper Uttar Pradesh. This was almost double from 26 cases in 2020.
The state registered 1,835 cases of rape in 2021 as compared to 1,658 cases in 2020. In 2021, 563 cases of attempt to rape and 4,511 cases of assault with intent to outrage the modesty were registered. Nine cases of acid attacks on women were registered in Assam in 2021. two in 2020
The state also registered 432 cases of cyber crimes targeting women, including publishing or transmitting sexually explicit material. This is the second highest in the country after Odisha, which recorded 565 cases.
Of the total cases of crime against women in the state, 12,950 were of cruelty by the husband or his relatives. The state registered 5,866 cases of abduction and abduction of women, of which 3,362 were for forcing marriage.
1,948 cases were registered in the state under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act, out of which 1,317 cases were of child rape, 424 of sexual assault and 158 of sexual assault. The total number of cases in 2020 under this act stood at 1,496. On the bright side, Assam did not register any case of infanticide or feticide.
dwindling rebellion
Internal security experts said separatism, violent movements such as the Assam Movement of 1979-85 and ethnic and communal conflicts contributed largely to the earlier state’s high crime rate.
“Insurgency is no longer a factor and a developing Assam is facing problems like other states today. But the state continues to have specific issues like witch-hunting and impulsive violence, which often take place in the tea-growing belt,” said Mukesh Sahai, former DGP of the state.
One cause of concern among social workers is the rising number of dowry deaths, which were 198 in 2021, up from 148 in 2020. Such cases were few and far between even a decade ago.
As per 2021 NCRB data, there were 1,192 murder cases in Assam, of which four were attributed to militancy or extremism. In 227 cases, the motive of murder was land/property or family dispute, while 26 cases were due to romantic affairs and six due to class conflicts. The motive behind most cases (536) was undetermined.
Of the total 26,933 violent cases registered in Assam, 7,580 were of kidnapping, 1,885 of robbery and 1,288 of attempt to murder.