Crime
against women in India
--Leena Mehendale
( The author is Jt Sec to GoI working with
National Commission for Women. This
article is a part of her private study.)
Abstract: The
National Crime statistics as published by NCRB can be taken as a starting point
for spatial analysis of crime situation in India and possible suggestions for a
proper strategy to reduce the crimes. This can be further stretched to the
study of Justice Delivery system. An agenda can be set for policy planners, and
social activists. Such a study was not attempted so far.
An
analysis of crime records for the years
1995-96-97 for 21 types of crimes under IPC and crimes 6 types against
women as done hereunder showed that:
1) Madhya
Pradesh and Maharashtra registered largest number of crimes. However, rate of
crime was highest in Delhi, being at least 150% higher than in any other state.
2) Rate
of total crimes against women was highest in Rajashtan, MP, Delhi and
Maharashtra.
3) States
with low crime rates are Lakshadweep, Punjab, Meghalaya, Nagaland, and West
Bengal.
4) 4
states with maximum crime rate are also the states with highest rape rate. They
are Delhi, Rajasthan, MP, Mizoram. A scatter diagram of total crimes Vs rapes
shows a general corelation between the two. Hence increase in total crime rate
should ring alarm.
5) Punjab having low rates fot all other crimes
against women has the 5th
highest dowry death rate.
6) West Bengal having low crime rates has
surprisingly the highest ratio of crimes against women to total crimes.
7) The
lower number of crimes in some states could be on account of improper or non- recording.
8) States
having high rates for dowry death are seen to be having low female to male
ratio, particularly for 0- 6 age group as registered in the census of 2001.
9) The
NCRB must start making a separate record of organised or mass atrocities
against women. This is not done as yet.
10) In most of the states the justice delivery is
unfavourable to women victims. Conviction rates for rapes are much below those
for overall crimes.
The year 2001 which is the first year
of the new millennium and the new century has been declared by the Government
of India as the Year of Empowerment for
Women. It will be the endeavour of all
government agencies to discuss, strategise, plan and implement various policies
and programmes that will pave a way for accelerated development of women and
lead them in the direction of empowerment.
What
are the pre-conditions for empowerment? As analysed earlier, (Mehendale, 2001)
lower crime rate and speedy justice delivery leading ultimately to freedom from
violence, access to relevant education and economic opportunities are the key
factors. Hence arises the importance of Crime Analysis and study of Justice
Delivery Patterns. With such a
study, a few policy guidelines can be
suggested.
The
situation of violence against women can be best studied by starting with the
yearly reports published by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). The Bureau has a record-collecting network
throughout the country. Every district
police headquarter makes a report about all the crimes recorded in the district
during the month to the state hqrs where they are compiled and the statewise
data is forwarded to the Bureau. The
Bureau uses these monthly reports for the purpose of compiling the overall
crime situation in the country and also publishes selective data annually.
For
my sample study, I selected the data of crimes reported by the NCRB during the
years 1995, 96 and 97. I compared the
data for six major crimes perpetrated only against women vis-a-vis total IPC
crimes
recorded under 21 different headings
(including those 6 types against women).
Some important observations are as under :-
Crimes:
During these three
years the total crimes recorded in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra were
exceeding 5.90 lacs and 5.50 lacs respectively. The States of UP, Rejasthan and Tamil Nadu recorded crimes
between 4 lacs and 5 lacs. States
recording more than 3 lacs crimes were Gujarat, Bihar, Karnataka and Andhra
Pradesh. Kerala and
West Bengal recorded more than 2 lacs
crimes. The national capital city of
Delhi alone recorded more than 1.65 lac crimes and this number is higher than
the crimes recorded by several States like Orissa, Assam, Haryana, etc.
·
The
number of crimes committed is a useful indicator for the police who have to
investigate each and every crime and take it to its logical end. This number therefore, guides the strategy
for deployment of police officials.
Rate
of Crime: On the other
hand, the academicians and sociologists have to deal more with the rate and the
trend of crime. On comparing the crime
rates it is seen that Delhi tops the country in respect of average rate of
crimes per year. It recorded an average
rate of 48517 crimes per crore population.
Rajasthan comes at the second position with 32,000 crimes per one crore
of population. At third place are the
States of Kerala, Pondicherry, M.P., Mizoram, Gujarat and Chandigarh recording
a crime rate between 25,000 to 30,000.
·
The
higher rate of total cognizable crimes in Pondicherry and Gujarat are
surprising. Pondicherry is a Union
Territory on a small island with high level of education and a historical
influence of French colonial days. It
is regarded as a peaceful UT. Similarly
Gujarat, which is a trade oriented state, has to be more peaceful by the
compulsions of trading convenience. The
higher rate recorded in Mizoram appears to be a result of communal
insurgencies.
·
Karnataka,
Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra have recorded a crime rate in the rage of 20,000 to
23,000.
·
It is
pertinent to note that the erstwhile UP with a mid-decade population of 15
crores, Bihar with 10 crores and Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal with 7 crores
each had a crime rate of less than 15,000 (per crore population) whereas some
small states like Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir recorded a
crime rate of nearly 18,000 crimes per one crore of population.
·
The
higher number of crimes is a matter of concern for the Home Ministry whereas
the higher rate of crime is a matter of concern for the Finance Ministry, the
Planning Ministry and the Labour Ministry as the increasing unemployment in the
country is a major reason for the increasing violence in the society.
·
The crime
rate in Delhi is at least 150% higher than in any other state and is a matter
of grave concern. It is sometimes
argued that the higher rate of crime recorded here is a result of large- scale
migration from other rural areas to Delhi.
The same condition, however, prevails in Mumbai and Kolkata. These two
cities also have been supplier of bread and employment and hence a crowd-puller
since last many years. The rate of
growth of population in these two cities is very high and yet the rate of total
crimes here is much lower than the rate in Delhi. Hence the arguments of large scale migration and consequent
increase in population would, at best, be a simplistic answer to the question
of high rate of crime. Can there be
another factor responsible? It is
generally considered that Mumbai and Kolkata are the cities for the hard
workers. The amount of black money
generated with the connivance of powers that be, may be quite comparable in all
these three cities, however, according to popular perception, only a smaller
section of populace in Mumbai and Kolkata is engaged in power-mongering,
under-world management and black money generation. Majority of population belonging to the upper-middle class and
the lower strata in those two cities are considered to be hardworking, earning their
bread with an honest job. Delhi, on the
other hand, is considered as a city more prone to manipulations with larger
number of visitors in the corridors of power.
This perhaps could be the reason.
Crime
against Women: On
comparing the rate of total crimes with the rate of six crimes committed
against women (rape, kidnapping, dowry death, domestic violence, sexual
harassment and molestation), West Bengal shows a surprising trend. Bengal is
generally considered as one of the most progressive state with a tradition of
better education and better respect for women.
Stalwarts like Raja Rammohan Roy, Swami Ram Krishna Pramhans,
Vivekananda and Rabindranath Tagore have contributed to the typical Bengali
mentality. The society respects a woman’s search for independent intelligent
pursuits. The rate of total crime is
low and so also is the rate of crime
against women. Yet, the ratio of these six crimes against women to the total
cognizable crimes is highest namely 9.9% for West Bengal. These ratios for some other States are:
Tripura 8.8, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh 8.3 and Assam 8.1 percent. It could be argued that the insurgencies and
tensions between different castes and sub-castes in Assam and Tripura are
responsible for the higher rate of crime against women. However, the reason for higher rate of crime
against women in Bengal, Maharashtra and A.P. goes against the image of these
being more progressive states.
·
Another
comparison between the two can be made on a scatter graph. States having higher
crime rates of both types are MP, Delhi, Maharashtra, AP, Haryana, Himachal,
J&K, Mizoram and Assam. However, the absence of evidence (of crimes) in
many other states is not to be taken as an evidence of absence (of crime).
·
A scatter
graph showing aggregate Rate of total
crimes Vs Rate of rape for all the 32
states and union territories (not counting Chattisgarh, Uttaranchal, and
Jharkhand) shows a direct proportionality. Higher the rate of general
crimes, higher the rape rate too. Hence icrease in crimes should ring a bell
among women activists. Delhi, Rajasthan, MP, and Mizoram are the states with
maximum crime rate alongwith highest rape rate.
·
How does
Bihar appear to have a low rate of crime against women? Is it because of a
large scale non- reporting? A table
showing 3 year data for the 6 types of crimes against women in 57 districts of
erstwhile Bihar depicts that 460 out of 1026 boxes have a “zero” entry. This
indicates that in those thanas police does not register crimes against women.
Even in UP a similar table for earstwhile 68 districts show that 204 out of
1224 boxes have a “zero” entry.
·
Which
State has maximum rate of crimes against women? The first four States are Rajasthan (2106), MP (2089), Delhi
(2000) and Maharashtra (1752 crimes per one crore population). All other States have recorded less than
1400 crimes per one crore population against women.
After 50 years of
independence, the country seems to have lost two major value systems. Strength of character was a value associated
with freedom movement which has been eroded from the public life after
independence. The efficiency of
administration, especially of police in dealing with crimes and criminals was
considered a strong point of the British Raj.
The famous novel Anand Math depicted a scenario of faith that the
British Raj would be able to take care of the thugs and pindaris then
prevalent in the society. The
Britishers established a disciplined police force that effectively dealt with
such thugs. Now, after 50 years of
independence we are once again faced with a question mark on the efficiency of
the administration and it looks like we are heading back to the days of thugs
and pindaris.
This
is greatly manifested even in deciding whether a crime will be recorded or not.
Many women activists and women commissions have noted that a large number of
crimes against women just do not get reported partly because of the societal
stigma against women but largely because of the attitude of the police and the
investigating machinery in dealing with women victims of these crimes. The NCRB
report itself states that perhaps only one out of 10 crimes against women get
recorded. Some States do not send their
monthly reports to the NCRB and often do not compile these even at the state
level. Perhaps it is time to develop a
new mechanism for recording the crimes; a mechanism which does not have to
depend on the police machinery alone but can involve the society in a bigger
way.
While
that change may take a long time, an immediately “doable” alternative is to ask
the police to submit a report of “NC” cases, ie cases in which, before
registering FIR, the police concludes that the case is not worth registering
and closes the matter. Although NCRB mentions that per centage of such cases is
only 0.4, the experience of NGOs and different commissions is otherwise.
It
is also necessary that people and NGOs demand that police gives relevant
documents to the complainant as prescribed in procedure, whether in NC case or
when FIR is registered.
·
Rape and Dowry Death: Among all crimes the most henious are
the two crimes of rape and dowry death against women. The threat of first clips
the wings of a woman ready to take up all flights into freedom and achievement.
It cripples her mentally and hurts physically beyond the imagination of anyone
else. Dowry death, on the other hand arises out of a mentality that denies the
women equal status and respect even in supposedly “her own” house.
·
The
scatter graph of rate of rape Vs rate of dowry death shows that barring Delhi
which has high rates in both, other states with high rates of rape have low
dowry deaths and vice versa.
·
Punjab shows a disturbing feature. Here the
rate of crime against women and that of
total crimes are both among of the
lowest. Yet the rate of Dowry deaths is very high. The 5 states with highest
dowry death rates are Delhi 128, Haryana 125, UP 123, Punjab 75 and Rajasthan 73. This perhaps explains the high rate
of female feoticide in Punjab, which, although successfully evaded in all crime
recording, nevertheless shows itself through the lowest female to male ratio
(FMR) in all age groups and typically in the 0-6 age group where it is most
significant.
·
Quite
significantly, there is a linear relationship between the low FMR in 0-6 age
group as per 2001 census and high rate of dowry deaths. Chart 1 shows 20 states
falling in the linear zone. Only UP seems an exception with its high rate of
dowry deaths and yet a relatively better FMR.
Other exceptions are Punjab, Chandigarh, Gujrat and HP having low FMR
with low rate for dowry death. It is perhaps a result of direct female
foeticide or non- recording of dowry deaths.
·
Organised Crimes: It is also noteworthy that while the
NCRB is trying meticulously to keep a record of six major crimes against women,
they have to quickly set-up the reporting and monitoring system for the
organized crimes in general, and those against women in particular. As yet,
there is no separate recording and analysis of
organised gang rapes or mass rapes, organized trafficking and sale of
girl children or of their organs. This
lacunae needs to be corrected speedily.
Chart 1: Statewise
comparison of crime against women to Total crimes. It also gives FMR in 0- 6
age group from the census of 2001.
Chart 2 and 3:
are the scatter graphs comapring total crimes vis-a-vis crime against women and
those of rape.
Chart 4: shows rate of dowry deaths vs FMR in 0- 6 age group.
Map 1 and 2: Map of India showing state-wise classification of states by
total crime rate and by rate of crimes against women.
Justice Delivery:
It is also necessary
to consider what is the position of the justice delivery system. How
effectively are we punishing the wrong doers?
It is reported that more than one crore cases are pending in various
courts throughout the country. The pendency may range from 15 months to 15
years or more. Even if the oppressor is punished after such a long period will
it re-establish the confidence of the victim in our democratic values ? One of the factors which have contributed to
the development of so called “powerful” countries in the world is their quick
justice delivery system which ensures that the society has a tremendous sense
of security and justice. In India we tend to forget that every delayed or
non-punishment to the criminal emboldens him and many others watching him to
commit more crimes. Those who are responsible to maintain law and order
consider themselves to be immune to such a danger, hence there is no sense of
urgency in delivering justice or punishing the criminals.
Let
us see what is done as regards pendency of court cases. Who monitors them and
how? There are registrars in the Supreme court, high courts and all district
courts who keep a record of all pending cases and their “fixing” for hearing. Aided by computer’s
analytical techniques, they also prepare pendency charts. This is something
similar to NCRB keeping record of all police cases. What next?
Keeping records is very different from “monitoring”. Who monitors whether sufficient efforts are made to reduce pendency ? Or to ensure speedy delivery of justice? Or to locate lacunae in the system and suggest corrective measures?
Are the reports of pendancy published at regular intervals? “No”. Are they discussed in Parliament from time to time? “No”. Are they presented and discussed at the levels of chief justices of Supreme court or High courts, they being the administrative heads of the machinery? “probably yes” but not within the knowledge of public. Are they made available to be discussed in various law schools or academic circles? ”No”. Are they sent to the Law and Justice departments of state governments? “Yes, to be stacked away”. Does public have any part in any discussion in the matter? “NO”. Are women, who are affected most by the non-delivery of justice, given any say or role in the monitoring? “A big NO”.
The typical pendency for 1997 as per NCRB report was:
· No. of cases pending investigation during ‘97 :: 21.96 lakh
· No. of cases investigated during 1997 ::16.73 lakh
· No. of cases pending investigation on 1.1.98 :: 5.23 lakh
· No. of CaW pending investigation during ‘97 :: 148,000
· No. of CaW investigated during 1997 :: 116,000
· No. of CaW pending investigation on 1.1.98 :: 32000
· No. of cases pending disposal in courts during ‘97 :: 54.61
· No. of cases disposed by courts during 1997 :: 10.64 lakh
· No. of cases pending trial in courts on 1.1.98 :: 43.96 lakh
· No. of CaW pending disposal in courts on 1.1.97 :: 2.7 lakh
· No. of CaW added in 1997 :: 1.0 lakh
· No. of CaW disposed by the courts during 1997 :: 0.75 lakh
· No. of CaW pending disposal in courts on 1.1.98 :: 2.95 lakh
Chart 5 below shows the rates of conviction in various states in respect of rape and all crimes. States of MP, Punjab, Gujrat, J&K, AP, Kerala, TN, Rajasthan, Karnatak, Nagaland, Mizoram, show a wide gap between the overall conviction rate and that in respect of rape. Only Goa and Sikkim indicate a fairer availability of justice for women.
This high pendency coupled with low rate of conviction in women related crimes largely indicate a need to have a fresh look at our justice delivery system. A simplistic solution is often suggested, namely, to increase the number of courts and judges. No debate is held on the role that the prosecution and defense lawyers as well as judges must fulfill in avoiding the redundancies and falsehoods. All that is a subject matter for another article and another movement.
Chart 1:
|
state |
0-6 FMR |
R/caw |
R/totcog |
10*w/T |
R/rp |
R/dd |
|
Sikkim |
986 |
1093 |
13596 |
8 |
131 |
0 |
|
Nagaland |
975 |
266 |
9900 |
2.7 |
98 |
0 |
|
Meghalaya
|
975 |
304 |
9329 |
3.3 |
145 |
2 |
|
Tripura |
975 |
1014 |
11555 |
8.8 |
281 |
37 |
|
Lakshadweep
|
974 |
0 |
5720 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Dadra
& Nagar |
973 |
1104 |
24854 |
4.4 |
111 |
19 |
|
Mizoram |
971 |
1278 |
27670 |
4.6 |
581 |
0 |
|
A & N
Islands |
965 |
755 |
12912 |
5.8 |
206 |
20 |
|
Assam |
964 |
1180 |
14543 |
8.1 |
250 |
12 |
|
Andhra
Pradesh |
964 |
1238 |
14954 |
8.3 |
119 |
59 |
|
Kerala |
963 |
950 |
28246 |
3.4 |
132 |
8 |
|
West
Bengal |
963 |
884 |
8966 |
9.9 |
110 |
18 |
|
Aruna Pr |
961 |
941 |
19323 |
4.9 |
355 |
0 |
|
Manipur |
961 |
447 |
13056 |
3.4 |
56 |
0 |
|
Pondicherry
|
958 |
330 |
27411 |
1.2 |
30 |
22 |
|
Orissa |
950 |
1092 |
14375 |
7.6 |
176 |
59 |
|
Karnataka
|
949 |
755 |
23829 |
3.2 |
50 |
39 |
|
Tamil
Nadu |
939 |
741 |
22752 |
3.3 |
52 |
20 |
|
Bihar |
938 |
383 |
11788 |
3.3 |
144 |
43 |
|
J & K |
937 |
1356 |
19042 |
7.1 |
165 |
7 |
|
Goa |
933 |
490 |
23705 |
2.1 |
113 |
15 |
|
MP |
929 |
2089 |
26886 |
7.8 |
448 |
69 |
|
ALL INDIA |
927 |
1098 |
18083 |
6.1 |
157 |
58 |
|
Daman
& Diu |
925 |
177 |
23835 |
0.7 |
118 |
0 |
|
Maharashtra
|
917 |
1752 |
20980 |
8.3 |
153 |
51 |
|
Uttar
Pradesh |
916 |
786 |
10620 |
7.4 |
111 |
123 |
|
Rajasthan
|
909 |
2106 |
32079 |
6.6 |
234 |
73 |
|
Hima Pr |
897 |
1384 |
18736 |
7.4 |
220 |
14 |
|
Gujarat |
878 |
889 |
26018 |
3.4 |
72 |
14 |
|
Delhi |
865 |
2000 |
48517 |
4.1 |
410 |
128 |
|
Chandigargh |
845 |
867 |
25734 |
3.4 |
95 |
29 |
|
Haryana |
820 |
1181 |
17607 |
6.7 |
184 |
125 |
|
Punjab |
793 |
363 |
5997 |
6 |
70 |
75 |
Chart 2:
chart 3: States with higher rate of
criminality also have higher rape rates.
chart 4: states with high dowry deaths
have low FMR and vice versa.
Chart 5
|
state |
conv/rape |
conv/all
crimes |
|
A & N
Islands |
No crime |
64.7 |
|
Andhra
Pradesh |
22.5 |
37.2 |
|
Aruna
Pradesh |
0.0 |
46.6 |
|
Assam |
22.3 |
22.6 |
|
Bihar |
33.8 |
26.2 |
|
Chandigargh |
40.0 |
61.0 |
|
Dadra
& Nagar |
0.0 |
27.3 |
|
Daman
& Diu |
0.0 |
18.8 |
|
Delhi |
33.0 |
38.0 |
|
Goa |
57.1 |
23.6 |
|
Gujarat |
17.5 |
35.0 |
|
Haryana |
27.0 |
37.0 |
|
Hima
Pradesh |
27.7 |
29.1 |
|
J & K |
6.3 |
36.0 |
|
Karnataka
|
7.1 |
15.8 |
|
Kerala |
21.3 |
32.4 |
|
Lakshadweep
|
no crime |
33.2 |
|
Maharashtra
|
18.9 |
18.2 |
|
Manipur |
0.0 |
0.0 |
|
Meghalaya
|
25.0 |
56.4 |
|
Mizoram |
60.0 |
94.0 |
|
MP |
26.7 |
46.5 |
|
Nagaland |
50.0 |
82.8 |
|
Orissa |
19.1 |
11.3 |
|
Pondicherry |
50.0 |
92.6 |
|
Punjab |
29.2 |
37.5 |
|
Rajasthan
|
27.0 |
50.1 |
|
Sikkim |
100.0 |
73.7 |
|
Tamil
Nadu |
32.0 |
63.9 |
|
Tripura |
10.4 |
10.1 |
|
Uttar
Pradesh |
50.0 |
51.3 |
|
West Bengal
|
14.1 |
21.9 |
|
ALL INDIA |
28.2 |
38.3 |
India: Rate of all crimes
|
Rajasthan, Delhi >30,000 |
|
Gujrat, Mp, Kerala, Mizoram
>25,000 |
|
Maharashtra, Tamilnadu, Karnatak
>20,0000 |
|
J&K, Himachal, Haryana,
Arunachal >15,000 |
|
AP, Orissa, Bihar, UP, Sikkim,
Assam, Manipur >10,000 |
|
Punjab, Bengal, Tripura,Nagaland
< 10,000 |
India: Rate of crimes against women.
|
Rajasthan, MP, Delhi > 2000 |
|
Maharashtra > 1700 |
|
J&K, Himachal, AP, Mizoram>
1200 |
|
Orissa, Assam, Haryana, Tripura,
Sikkim > 1000 |
|
Punjab, Bengal, Gujrat,
Kerala,Tripura,Nagaland < 1000 |
