The impact of the lockdown on the pattern of crimes reported in 2020
annual report, ‘Crime in India’ released by National Crime Records Bureau A careful analysis is needed before gleaning insights or making state-wise comparisons in mid-September this year. This is because of the significant difference in the registration of cases across states and union territories, especially serious crimes related to rape and violence against women. States/UTs like Tamil Nadu (1808.8), Kerala (1568.4) and Delhi (1309.6) recorded the highest crime rates overall (crimes per one lakh people). But it is difficult not to see these numbers as a reflection of better reporting of cases and police registration in these states and capital city respectively. On the other hand, while there was a 8.3% drop in recorded cases of crimes against women in 2020 (most of which, 30.2%, belonged to the “cruelty by husband or his relatives” category), this number has to do with the fact What must be assessed is that the year saw prolonged lockdowns during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic (especially between late March and May 2021). This period coincides with a high number of complaints of domestic violence – the number of complaints received by the National Commission for Women is at a 10-year high till June 2020. The seeming mismatch between the NCW and NCRB data needs to be studied and can only be explained by the lack of registration of cases in some states where crime reporting remains sluggish, either for fear of doing so or by law enforcement as such. Because of his indifferent attitude towards matters. On the other hand, crimes related to theft, burglary and dacoity have also come down due to the lockdown.
The disruption related to COVID-19 resulted in higher registration of cases overall (28% growth in 2020 compared to 2019) mainly due to a 21-fold increase in cases relating to disobedience of an order duly promulgated by a public servant and more than four-fold increase in cases involving violation of other state/local laws. It’s not surprising either. India had one of the strictest lockdowns and law enforcement spared little in enforcing strict physical distancing. The question of registration does not apply to certain types of cases such as homicides – which have only increased marginally by 1% compared to 2019. Worryingly, while the registered number of economic offenses declined (12% since 2019). Cyber crimes registered an increase of 11.8%. The rise in cyber crimes is a cause for concern as it requires stricter law enforcement as is seen even in highly developed societies. While sedition-related cases dropped from 93 in 2019 to 73 last year, Manipur and Assam reported 15 each and 12 cases each. Sedition is increasingly being used as a weapon to suppress dissent and this trend needs to be reversed immediately.
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