KOCHI: Crime in India, 2020, the latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) for the year 2020, shows Kerala has the highest charge-sheeting rate, at 92.5%, in the country for violent crimes. Kerala is followed by Gujarat (88.6%), West Bengal (88.3%) and Tamil Nadu (86.5%) in the category.
Lakshadweep tops the list of UTs with100% charge sheeting in the category. The charge-sheeting rate is the percentage of cases charge sheeted by police out of the total number of cases disposed of in the year.
In total IPC cases, Kerala has the second-highest charge-sheeting rate at 94.90% behind Gujarat (97.10%). Tamil Nadu is third in this list with 91.70%.
Among metropolitan cities listed in the report, Kochi and Kozhikode are from Kerala, and the charge-sheeting rate in violent crimes Kochi has a rate of 92.1% and Kozhikode has 94.1%. Only Chennai has a better rate with 96.2%.
In the case of total IPC cases, among metropolitan cities, Kochi has a charge-sheeting rate of 91.7 % and Kozhikode has 92.1%. In this category, the first three spots are Surat (96.7%), Coimbatore (96.6%) and Ahmedabad (96.3%).
At the same time, the rate of cases in Kerala is very high in cases registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act. Kerala’s crime rate in this category, i.e., the Crime Incidence per one lakh of population, is 23, way above the national average of 10.50.
However, there is a mismatch in the data provided in the NCRB report and the data provided by state police on their website. As per the state police’s data, the number is even higher. When the NCRB report shows 2,209 child victims in 2,163 incidents registered under the Act, the data provided by the state police show a total of 3,019 cases under the Act in 2020.
In the category of women facing cruelty by husband or his relatives, there were 2,736 victims in the state of 2,707 incidents. The number of women who suffered domestic violence was 165. The state had 647 rape victims in 637 incidents. Only three incidents were reported in the state under the Dowry Prohibition Act in 2020, shows the report. Kerala is ranked fourth in cases registered under NDPS Act with 4,968 incidents behind Uttar Pradesh (10,852), Punjab (6,909) and Tamil Nadu (5,403).
