NCRB Data Names Kerala As India's 'Crime Capital', But Here's Why It's A Good Thing

The rate of cognizable crimes in Kerala is the highest in the country at 723.2 (cases per 1 lakh population), more than thrice the national average of 234, as per the 2015 data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

Madhya Pradesh, the second state on the list, trails by nearly 300 markings at 348.

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A break-up of the data, however, shows that petty crimes and cases filed over protest marches (dubbed rioting) had led to the spike. The NCRB data rank Kerala significantly low on the list in serious crimes like rape and murder.

Criminologist Ajithkumar Nair says the quality of data collection could also have contributed to the high rate.

“Many incidents of crime go unreported in other states. Even those reported need not be properly recorded.

Kerala has an effective system of registering cases and recording them, even minor suo motu cases. This should be read along with the high rate," he says. Former DGP Hormis Tharakan, also former chief of Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), attributes the rate to effective policing. “There are more suo motu cases being registered. A break-up will give a better picture. Policing in Kerala is much more efficient than many other states,“ he says.

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Senior police officers said only less than 10% of the reported rape cases were actual rapes.

“Most of them are registered when eloping couples are tracked in man missing cases. The number of `Govindachamis' in Kerala is less compared to the other states," one of them said.

Assault on women with an intention to outrage their modesty is pegged at 21.9 (cases per 1 lakh population) in Kerala and this is almost double the national average.However, even in these cases, the charges of sexual harassment (6.3), attempt to disrobe (0.7), stalking (0.3) and voyeurism (0.2) are less compared to `others' (14.4).

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IG (Ernakulam) S Sreejith says the number of “riots" cases is also high in the state. They add up to 16.4 cases per 1 lakh population against a national average of 4.4. Of these, the number of communal riots, agrarian riots or caste conflicts is zero.

“Any unlawful assembly of four or more persons can be considered a riot. Almost all outfits organise protests in Kerala and cases are registered in this regard," he says.

Cases registered under road rage or rash driving are also high in the state (368.3 as against the national average of 35). The other minor IPC crimes are also pegged at a whopping 264.3 cases as against the national average of 77.4.