On October 21, 2019, the National Crime Record Bureau’s (NCRB)released their2017 annual report on “Crime in India”, with state-wise data on atrocities committed against members of scheduled castes from 2015 to 2017. This is two year old data with no data on mob violence like lynchings!
Feature Image Credit: FeminismIndia
More than 43,000 atrocitiesagainst Dalitswere registered in 2017 as having been committed by non-members of the SC and ST communities.56 per cent of the total registered atrocities in 2017 were committed only in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar combined.Uttar Pradesh had the most number of complaints registered against SC atrocities in all three years covered in the report, with 8,357 in 2015, 10,426 in 2016 and11,444 in 2017. This means that more than a quarter of the total caste-related crimes occurred in Uttar Pradesh.
Madhya Pradesh recorded the highest total crime rate against scheduled caste in the same year at nearly 52. This means that around 52 out of every one lakh SC member in the state was subjected to atrocities in the year. To compare numbers, the national average crime rate is about 22. The state also featured on the third spot on the list of most number of crimes against SC in 2017.
Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Jammu & Kashmir had no reports of SC atrocities in 2017. Rajasthan showed steady decrease in the SC atrocities (5911 in 2015, 5134 in 2016,4238 in 2017).
Haryana witnessed a spike of 19.24 per cent in the number of registered crimesagainst scheduled castes, with 762 in 2017 compared to 693 committed in 2016.The report came in time towhen the state was going to the polls.News18 reported that Dalits form the second biggest group of voters in Haryana, constituting 22 per cent of its total voters.
Total of registered crimes from all union territories came to 81. Out of this total, Delhi registered 48, Puducherry had 32 and Chandigarh reported 1 atrocity.
Out of the data collated from metropolitan cities, Lucknow has the biggest share of registered crimes. Its 299 registered crimes amount to 21.4 per cent of the total complaints registered in metropolitan cities. Indore’s number of SC atrocities dropped to zero in 2017 from 55 in 2015.
The report also tabulated disposal of persons arrested for atrocities in metropolitan cities. 1738 individuals were arrested under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in 2017, out of which 1637 were chargesheeted.
The NCRB data is a valuable resource that allows for assessment of the common cries committed in the country. The Indian Express reported that the Board has purposely left out data on mob lynching, religious and khappanchayat murders despite having collected and compiled in.
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