Crime Curve
Confirming the general impression, the latest figures released by the home ministry for the year 1998 speak of a marked upturn in the incidence of crimes in the country since the year before. Compared with 1,02,161 crimes committed and registered with the police in 1997, the figures for 1998 showed a marked rise by 12,065 to stand at a total of 1,14,226. The number of murders has increased over the year by 455 to reach 3,539 in 1998.
But most dreadful has been the incidence of rape, acid-throwing and dowry-related repression of women. Little wonder, the rape figure has doubled over the year to stand at 2,959. Incidents of abduction, ransom-seeking and trafficking have also marked a slight rise according to statistics appearing in a well-circulated Bangla daily.
The home ministry and the police administration have provided some counter-vailing explanations to the rising trend in various forms of criminality. They have tried to make two points: one, success of drives relating to recovery of illegal arms, explosives, drugs and other contrabands reflected a higher degree of police control and grip over the underworld situation; and secondly, there has not been any marked rise in 'serious crimes' having to do with human lives and loss of physical property.
There has not been any fall in those figures either. All forms of extortion have been certainly on the rise.
At any rate, what is of central importance here is the lack of automatic entertainment of cases at the thana level. The degree of diffidence that the public show in turning to a police station for help is perhaps proportional to that shown at the thanas to take up cases on approach. Furthermore, how many of the registered cases are properly investigated, and indeed how many of the 'accused' eventually get convicted?
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