Updated: October 5, 2020 11:58:56 am
Jaipur: Gulabi Gang activists during a protest for the law and women’s safety, in Jaipur, on Saturday, October 3, 2020 (PTI Photo) (PTI03-10-2020_000167B)
Data published by the National Criminal Records Bureau (NCRB) for 2019 puts Rajasthan at the top when it comes to cases of rape or attempted rape. Between 2018 and 2019, there was a drastic increase of 49.11 percent in cases of crimes against women in Rajasthan.
Against this increase in numbers, the BJP opposition is organizing ‘find bowl‘statewide protests on Monday with the party’s state chairman, Satish Poonia, saying that under Prime Minister Ashok Gehlot, Rajasthan has recorded the most crime and has become a “crime capital.” Gehlot was elected CM of Rajasthan in December 2018.
Where is Rajasthan in the national crime figures against women?
Overall, Rajasthan ranked second for crimes against women, with a crime rate of 110.4 per lakh of population; It is calculated by adding the offenses recorded under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Special and Local Laws (SLL). Assam tops the list with 177.8; however, it is one of the smaller states. Assam and Rajasthan are followed by Haryana (108.5) and Odisha (103.5). The national average is 61.3.
When it comes to IPC section 376 (rape), Rajasthan again tops the list with an incidence (FIR registered) of 5,997 and 6,051 victims, which translates to a crime rate of 15.9. The national average rape crime rate is 4.8. Also for attempted rape (Sec 376/511 IPC), Rajasthan tops the list with an incidence of 1,019 and 1,030 victims.
Furthermore, the rate of all recognizable crimes in Rajasthan (CPI + SLL) stood at 392.2. Interestingly, Kerala tops the list with a rate of 1,287.7, while the national average is 367.4.
However, at 8.7 percent, Rajasthan has the lowest police reporting rate among all states when it comes to crimes against women. The national average is 32.4%.
What is the difference between the 2018 and 2019 figures in Rajasthan?
In Rajasthan, more cases are now being recorded. The crime figures against women (IPC + SLL) for the state increased from 25,993 (2017) to 27,866 (2018) to 41,550 in 2019. So, while there was an increase of 7.21 percent from 2017 to 2018, the increase in 2018 to 2019 was a drastic 49.11 percent.
In general, IPC + SLL crimes have also skyrocketed dramatically. While there was an increase of just 1,873 cases between 2017 and 2018, the difference between 2019 and 2018 is 53,848 cases, or an increase of 21.49 percent. The state capital, Jaipur, saw 2,957 more cases in 2018, compared to 2017, but the difference between 2019 and 2018 is 10,008 cases.
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Why have the numbers skyrocketed in Rajasthan under Congress?
Shortly after assuming power, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot emphasized the you need to register an FIR. A circular dated January 31, 2019 from the then Director General of Police, Kapil Garg, stated that “FIR registration is the fundamental duty of the police.” In the detailed note, he wrote how an immediate FIR registration for a recognizable crime “reflects the sensitivity and efficiency of the police towards the complainant,” and how a delay in FIR registration compounds the complainant’s pain and works to the benefit of the accused. .
At a police department review meeting in June 2019, Gehlot said that all whistleblowers arriving at a police station will be patiently listened to and “FIR registration must be ensured.” She said that “complaints about hesitancy in FIR registration or about (police) behavior will not be tolerated.” Importantly, he said “there is no need to worry if more FIRs lead to an increase in crime numbers.”
The office of the Director General of Police, time and again, has sent circulars to the district police reminding them of the circular of January 31, 2019. One of those circulars of February 5, 2020 reminded them that “parivadi ki report har surat mein darj ki jaave (The report of the complainant must be recorded in all circumstances) ”.
Activists wearing face masks as a precaution against the coronavirus hold signs during a protest against the gang rape and murder of a woman in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, in Hyderabad (AP)
Director General of Prisons BL Soni, who was Additional Director General (Crime) and then Director General (Crime) between December 2018 and July 2020, said the prime minister’s message was that “everyone can register a case. It was a bold decision of the CM that we will record all complaints. Before, when there were more cases, the police station in charge used to be stopped and, at the state level, the government used to take credit; Look, we’ve reduced crime by x, y percent. The premium was in not registering FIR. If you had a ‘reduced’ crime, they appreciated you. Now the reduction of crime is questioned. If you don’t register (an FIR), they arrest you: departmental proceedings were started against two dozen SHOs when they failed to register a case and a fellow had to go to SP or IG or to the police headquarters; and half a dozen SHOs were suspended. Some SP were even withdrawn. “
All of this started mainly in May 2019, after the Lok Sabha elections. Soni says the government also carried out “a lot of decoy operations” to see if the FIRs were staying at the police stations.
The government took a number of other steps to make the process more transparent. In May 2019, following Thanagazi’s gangrape case in Alwar, Gehlot announced that FIRs could register directly with the SP office if local police stations did not receive a complaint. On July 1, 2019, the state government also made it mandatory to register all reports about crime and crime monitoring systems and networks (CCTNS). “FIRs were being registered in CCTNS, but now the difference was that all complaints should also be registered in the system,” Soni said.
Following the Thanagazi rape case and crime did not relent in the district, Alwar split into two separate police districts, Alwar and Bhiwadi, in August 2019.
“Also, the above people used to go to court for FIR registration according to CrPC 156 (3). This also saw a decrease from 28 percent (in 2018) to 16 percent at the end of 2019 as the police presented cases freely, ”Soni said.
So, has the criminal situation in Rajasthan worsened between 2018 and 2019?
The registration of more cases does not necessarily mean that crime has increased. That also explains why Kerala has the highest rate of recognizable crime in all of India. In Rajasthan, the police department’s campaign to record all complaints has led to an increase in FIR registration in the state and thus a drastic overall increase in numbers between 2018 and 2019.
The NCRB itself says that “the main assumption that upward variation in police data indicates an increase in crime and therefore a reflection of ineffective police is a fallacy. “Increase in crime” and “increase in police crime reporting” are clearly two different things, a fact that is often confused. Therefore, an often repeated expectation by certain quarters that an effective police administration will be able to keep crime figures low is wrong. In fact, the increase in the number of crimes in the state police data may be due to certain citizen-centered police initiatives, such as the launch of the e-FIR facility or the women’s help services, etc. “
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