Moa Jamir
Cognisable crimes in Nagaland over the years has had been one of the ‘lowest’ among States and Union Territories (UTs) in India as per the official data published annually by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. The NCRB publishes the report based on the Indian Penal Code (IPC) as well as the Special and Local Laws (SLL) crimes data provided by the States/UTs.
The ‘low’ figure, at face value, could be taken as the manifestation of robust ‘law and order' mechanism in the State. Many, however, would argue that it is also the case of underreporting as well as the existence of a traditional and customary mechanism of dealing with many offences. For instance, many offences like robbery, thefts or minor disputes or assault etc, particularly in rural areas are usually ‘solved’ within the customary framework. Traffic accidents often are ‘settled’ informally.
There are also instances of parties arriving at settlements through such traditional mechanisms before cases are registered, while ‘out-of-court settlements’ are accepted practice, with some even approaching the court of law for quashing of FIR or cases involving “serious” offences under IPC or SLL. Accordingly, the data depicting low absolute numbers or rates of crime should be read contextualising such realities.
Even without contextualisation, if the data is taken at face value, the NCRB’s ‘Crime in India 2021’ as well as 'Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India 2021’ (ADSI 2021) reports highlighted 3 worrisome data regarding the State, though IPC & SLL Crimes in Nagaland declined from 1511 in 2020 to 1478 in 2021. The number of crimes has maintained a declining trend since 2017.
The first is the ‘Crime against Women’ which witnessed a 38.46% jump over the previous year, against the All-India increase of 15.3%. In absolute terms, it increased from 39 in 2020 to 54 in 2021.
While the number and the rate of ‘Crime against Women’ were comparatively lowest in India, it is suggestive of increased occurrences. Moreover, most crimes were Assault on Women with Intent to Outrage her Modesty, Kidnapping & Abduction, Rape, Cruelty by Husband or his relatives.
Related to ‘Crime against Women’ is the jump in the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POSCO) Act, 2012, which drove the huge surge in ‘Crime against children’ in Nagaland. The State recorded over 77% jump in ‘Crime against children’ in 2021, with offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POSCO) Act, 2012 dominating the data.
Out of 55 cases registered under ‘crime against children’ in 2021, 31 were under POSCO Act in Nagaland, which saw a 72.22% increase from 18 in 2020. Across India, there was only a 16.2% increase in 2020, the NCRB report stated. The POSCO Act was enacted to ’protect children from offences of sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography and provide for the establishment of Special Courts for the trial of such offences and related matters and incidents.’
Again, in terms of absolute numbers, Nagaland was comparatively ranked among the lowest in both ‘crime against children’ and under POSCO, but the huge increase over 2020 presents daunting challenges to the concerned authorities. Many a times, crime against children and women are settled without reaching the legal mechanism.
Meanwhile, the analysis of the another NCRB’s report (ADSI 2021) highlighted that while suicide death declined by 10.4% from 48 in 2020 to 43 in 2021, economic as well as relationship issues were the leading causes.
Analysis of the economic and professional status of people committing suicides in 2021 also points to a conclusion that economic situation can act as triggers. For instance, in terms of professional profiles, out of 43 deaths, 22 were either categorised as ‘Unemployed Persons’ (13) and ‘Self-employed Persons’ (9), denoting 51.16% of the total deaths. A total of 30 (69.76%) were in the income category of earning less than Rs1 lakh per annum, while 10 were earning 1 lakh to less than 5 lakh, indicating economic primacy. Incidentally, the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) reports have highlighted that Nagaland has been consistently ranked as the State with the highest unemployment rate in India.
Given the concerning rises in crimes against women and children as well as the economic triggers reflected by the NCRB’s reports, it is imperative that the State Government take the data seriously and adopts corrective measures.
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