Morung Express News
Dimapur | December 3
If you are looking for heaven on earth (or, at least, in the Indian Union) and haven’t found it, take a look at Nagaland. The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) 2016 statistics have found Nagaland at its usual place towards the bottom, with the third lowest recorded incidence of crimes. The Union Territories of Dadra & Nagar Haveli followed by Lakshadweep had the lowest crime rates.
]Among 36 states and union territories in the Indian Union, Nagaland has bagged the coveted 34th position in crime rate. Kerala topped the crime charts at number 1.
For women, there is even better news. Nagaland is the safest place in the country, ranked at 36 in crimes against women! Delhi (Union Territory), the national power centre, was ranked at number 1, becoming the topmost uninhabitable place for women in India today.
Cognizable Crimes
The NCRB is part of the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Indian Union. The 2016 ‘Crime in India’ statistics collated by the Bureau makes an analysis of registered cognizable crimes in the altogether 36 states and union territories based on the 2001 census.
While many places have seen a rise in crime rate over the years, Nagaland has seen a decline in recorded crimes between 2015 and 2016. If, in 2014, the number of crimes (registered under the Indian Penal Code, IPC, as well as Special Local Laws, SLL) stood at 1669, it rose drastically to hit 1928 in 2015 but stood at 1908 in 2016, as per the NCRB data. To understand these figures in the context of the Indian sub-continent, take the numbers from Kerala which produced the most recorded crimes.
In 2014, crimes in Kerala stood at 6,10,365, in 2015 at 6,53,408 and, in 2016, at 7,07,870! But it may be noted that Kerala’s population is significantly higher than Nagaland’s.
Nagaland took a beating at its ‘Kidnapping & Abduction’ ranking. Standing at 26, cases of kidnapping and abduction increased from 37 in 2014 to 85 in 2015 to 91 in 2016.
Crimes Against Women
As per data, Nagaland seems to be the safest place in the Indian Union for women, ranked at 36 in ‘crimes against women.’ Bad news is these crimes are on their way up.
In 2014, if 68 crimes against women were reported (IPC+ SLL), then these crimes rose to 91 in 2015 and further to 105 in 2016. 102 cases among all of these were disposed off by the police in Nagaland in 2016. I
n the same year, the courts completed trials in 55 cases of crimes against women with 23 convicted, bringing the rate of conviction in Nagaland to 41.8%.
According to the NCRB database, maximum crimes against women in Nagaland, in 2016, were related to kidnapping and abduction, with rape becoming the next big crime against women followed by assault. The maximum victims of rape in 2016 were girls under the age of 6, with most offenders being persons known to the victim.
In contrast, Delhi stood at number 1 in crimes against women with despicable figures. In 2014, there were 15,319 registered cases of crimes against women, the number increasing to 17,222 in 2015 but falling to 15,310 in 2016.
Juvenile & Economic offences
Nagaland ranked 27 in registered crimes committed by juveniles. From 2014 to 2016, the crimes rose from 10 to 17 to 18. Most had committed theft, according to the NCRB database. The literacy level among them was primary schooling at most. 77 children went missing in Nagaland in 2016 alone.
Meanwhile, Nagaland registered 140 economic offences in 2016 related to criminal breach of trust, cheating, forgery and counterfeiting. These cases, alongside those from previous years, are under investigation by the police. 118 cases are pending trial in courts as of the end of 2016 while 41 persons were convicted of economic offences.
Corruption
According to the NCRB, Nagaland saw 11 cases registered in 2014 under the Prevention of Corruption Act and related sections of the IPC.
In 2015, this dropped to 2 cases while 2016 saw 10 such cases registered (excluding CBI registered cases). Including previous years, 30 cases remain under investigation by the state’s vigilance commission, as per the database.
Only two persons were ‘awarded minor punishment’ by their departments.
