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Kerala isn't a peaceful state

D Jose in Thiruvananthapuram

Popular perception be hanged. Kerala isn't a peaceful state.

Statistics from the National Crime Records Bureau, Pune, explode the myth that Kerala has falling crime rates. More lives are lost in Kerala than in other states due to crimes, suicides and accidents, according to its annual reports for 1995 and 1996.

The Bureau ranks Kerala first in accidents, second in suicides and third in crimes.

Its 1996 annual report says that the south Indian state is far ahead of other larger and more populous states in number of crimes per 100,000 population. At the same time, its conviction rate is among the lowest in the country.

The state police, however, claim this is not the real picture. They feel the statistics tend to show a high crime rate in Kerala because crime reporting in the state is much more compared to other states. This is because of high literacy in the state, they argued.

Chief Minister E K Nayanar, who holds the home portfolio, also subscribes to this view. Being aware of their rights, more people seek legal remedy. This is not the case in other states, where the literacy level is low. This only shows the increased awareness of people, not real crimes, he maintained.

Whatever the truth, as per the Bureau statistics Kerala was behind only Rajasthan and Mizoram in crime. Crimes like murder, rape, dacoity and rioting, known in police parlance as Indian Penal Code crimes, were 275 per 100,000 population in Kerala during 1996, as against the national average of 183.4.

Rajasthan, which topped the list, had 382.9 and Mizoram 276.7. The rate in a more populous and larger state like Uttar Pradesh was only 113. The rates in other states are: Bihar (120.8), West Bengal (92.9), Andhra Pradesh (150.6), Orissa (145.2), Tamil Nadu (223.5), Karnataka (234.9) and Goa (215.2).

The total number of IPC crimes in Kerala was 86,141 during 1996. These include 417 murders, 296 robberies, 5,066 burglaries and 2,101 cheating and 6,028 rioting cases.

Rioting cases, which constituted 19.2 per cent of IPC crimes, make Kerala one of the most riot-prone states in the country.

Besides these, 14,675 crimes under the Special and Local Laws were also reported.

The only silver lining is that Kerala is below the national average in crimes against women. While the national average is 12.2 per cent, Kerala's record is 9.2.

However, this does not call for any elation, since crimes against women are on the increase in the state year by year. Thus, compared to 1995, crimes against women went up by 853 in 1996. As for the rate of conviction, the performance by Kerala is pretty poor: during 1996, it was only 27.7 per cent as against the national average of 37.8 per cent.

Tamil Nadu topped the states in this regard, with 63 per cent. Karnataka (19 per cent) and West Bengal (15.2 per cent) were worse off than Kerala.

As regards suicides, Kerala, with 29 suicides per 100,000 population, topped the list in 1995. The national average is 9.73. Rajasthan, which ranked highest in crime rates, is among the states identified as less suicide prone -- the rate there is only 6.1.

The NCRB report places Kerala at the top of 11 states identified as suicide prone. The southern states of Karnataka (23.46), Tamil Nadu (15.01) and Andhra Pradesh (9.43) are the other states in the list.

In vehicle accidents, Kerala comes second only to Maharashtra. It recorded 31,309 accidents in 1995, wherein 2,720 persons died.

Maharashtra, with a much larger population, road length and number of vehicles, topped the list with 15.26 per cent as against Kerala's 13.5 per cent.

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