Crimes rising against vulnerable sections

The ‘Crime in India Report 2022’ published by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) presents disturbing data which shows a rise in the number of crimes against women, children, SC/ST, and in cybercrimes. As per the report, there was an increase of 4% in crimes against women from the previous year. Most of these related to cruelty by family members, kidnapping and abduction, bid to outrage modesty, and rape. Jaipur, Delhi, Indore and Lucknow recorded the highest rates of increase among 19 metro cities, and among states, UP registered the highest number of FIRs for crimes against women. Among cities, Chennai and Coimbatore had the lowest rates. There was an 8.1% increase in crimes against children, most of which related to kidnapping, followed by sexual offences. It should be noted that cases registered against juveniles showed a decline. There was a 13% increase in crimes against SCs and 14% rise in crimes against STs. Cybercrimes went up by nearly 25%. Other crimes also registered an increase. 

While data on crimes should guide governance and policymaking in dealing with changing scenarios, the NCRB rightly points out that its data represents only the incidence of registered crimes. So there is a possibility to conclude that the increase in crimes reflects the greater opportunity for crimes to be recognised by the law enforcement system. But there is another trend which is equally strong. A large number of crimes go unreported, especially if they are against weaker and underprivileged sections, including women and children. As the report says, and is known, the perpetrators of violence are often acquaintances, and women and children find it difficult to report them. So it can only be concluded that in the case of crimes against vulnerable sections, the reported data does not give the true picture. 

This may have been the case at all times in the past. But it should not be left there. It is for the law enforcement machinery and society to ensure that all such crimes are reported and fairly investigated so that the perpetrators of crimes are brought to book. The growth in the number of crimes against women shows that the changes in law made after the Nirbhaya case have not been able to effectively address the problem. Any law is only as good as its implementation. The system and society must encourage and provide the confidence to victims from the vulnerable sections to report crimes and abuses against them and to expect the criminal justice system to work for them. This is difficult to do, but should serve as a goal to be reached.