Regional Imbalances with reference to Crimes in India

Component-I (A) - Personal Details

Role Name Affiliation

Principal Investigator Prof. Masood Ahsan Siddiqui Department of Geography, Jamia

Millia Islamia, New Delhi
Paper Coordinator, if any Dr. Deeksha Bajpai Department of Geography, Dayal
Singh College, Delhi University
Content Writer/Author Dr. Upma Gautam University School of Law and
(CW) Legal Studies (USLLS), GGSIPU
Content Reviewer (CR) Dr. Deeksha Bajpai Department of Geography, Dayal
Singh College, Delhi University
Language Editor (LE)

Component-I (B) - Description of Module

Items Description of Module

Subject Name Geography

Paper Name Urban Geography

Module Name/Title Regional Imbalances of Crimes in India

Module Id UG-22

Pre-requisites Crime, Types of Crime, regions of crime

Objectives To develop an understanding of the different types of

crime committed in different parts of India.

Keywords Crime, Offence,Cognizable Offence, IPC, SLL.

Regional Imbalances with reference to Crimes in India
Introduction:

Crime as a social incident has always existed in the society since time immemorial. Crime is
considered to be a legal wrong against the society and its well being therefore it becomes the
duty of the State to curtail and control such incidences with the legally framed rules and
regulations and also provide sanction to these rules in the form of punishment. But the meaning
and types of crimes are to differ in different societies as the acts which are termed to be as crime
are the behavior against the accepted values in a given society and therefore it can be aptly said
that the criminal law of a particular country at a given point of time is the reflection of the moral
standards of the society. Therefore, crime cannot be given a standard and static definition which
suits all the societies in all times. Crime is a changing concept, dependent upon the social
development of people that is upon the fundamental interests and values dominating their
common beliefs.

Crime though essentially a social happening doesn’t differentiate between the urban and rural
societies, as it exists in both the type of set ups. But, the factors that give rise to criminality have
correlation with both urban and rural societies. Generally, the opportunities available for crime to
happen are cumulatively higher in urban areas because of their widespread extent and high
density of population. These very factors make the monitoring of crime in urban areas very
difficult. With increasing urbanization, the crime and crime rates increase proportionately. The
nature and proportion of crime also changes according to the geographical conditions, seasons
and structure of landscape. The geographic phenomenon plays an important role in influencing
criminal behavior. Crime is influenced by geographic factors like climate, topography, and
natural resources. Crime is also influenced by the geographic location of a place in addition to
being socio-culturally located.

Increased crime rates play a decisive role in hindering the growth of a nation as a unit, especially
in the case of developing countries like India. There is a strong need to monitor and analyse the
crimes occurring across the country in addition to regulating them. Though the task of crime
regulation is solely under the hands of the government, analysis of the crimes can be carried out
in order to derive conclusions and suggest necessary actions and measures extracted from
analytical analysis of the data sets available. Such an analysis can play a significant role in
helping the government in taking better actions for maintaining law and order in the nation.

Crime and Geography

The interaction between crime and various spatial elements have been the subject matter of study
in different times in geography. The role that geographical elements play as an important role in
crime and its patterns have always interested geographers at various phases of pedagogical
evolution of the subject. Ellsworth Huntington and various French, Italian and German
criminologists have tried to show the relation between the features of geographical elements and
the proportion of crimes. Earliest determinists explained the role of various physical features and
natural resources on spatial locations of various types of crime.

In the evolution of geography, 1960s marked a revolution in the spatial study. Geographers
concerned with crime studies analyzed crime in its varied locations, being a social fact
(Durkhiem 1938) and occupying physical and social spaces(Pearce 1989). Geographers were
identifying clusters of crime as ‘delinquency areas’, the reasons, factors for their location and
characters that they have assumed. Regional variation of different types of crimes was the focal
theme of studies. Models and concepts propounded during this time period were based on spatial
activities of human beings where s/he was considered as a rational actor who has perfect knowledge
of world.

With the rise of ‘Behavioral Geography’, person’s decisions and locational alternatives of crime
became the focus of study. Spatial behavior and behavior in space got recognition as the focal
themes. Studies revolved around where criminals were situated as behavior in space related to
the location of opportunities for crime. It presumed that the spatial structure of an area can be
used to explain criminal behavior in space. In 1970 when the debate was on about 'place of
people in regional science' then a popular issue, which emerged, was the 'place of people in
geography of crime' (Evans and Herbert 1989). There are two things to be noted here, first is the
area where criminals are residing and the second the place where the crime is committed. Crime
areas of particular types of crimes depending on the favorable environment were identified and
studied.
The emergence of humanistic geography brought a new phase in understanding of place/space
wherein place location in space is propagated as more than a territory to which people attach
values. Post-modem thinkers also believe in analyzing spatial organization of social phenomena
such as crime within the local socio-spatial imperatives in a specific context.

Criminal Law in India

Crime in India
A total of 72, 29,193 cognizable crimes comprising 28, 51,563 Indian Penal Code (IPC) crimes
and 43, 77, 30 Special and Local Laws (SLL) crimes were reported in 2014. There was an
increase of 9 percent over the 2013 figures. During 2014, the IPC crime rate was 229.2 per lakh.
There was an increase of about 14 percent from the previous year. SLL crime rate increased by
about 27 percent from 2013 to 2014. Percentage share of IPC cases to total cognizable crimes
were 39.4 percent in 2014.
From 2004 to 2014 the total crime rate including IPC and SLL grew by 4.6 percent whereas the
increase in the total incidence of crime during the same time period was 19.9 percent. Compound
growth rate per annum in the crime rate was 1.2 percent whereas the increase in the incidence of
total crime was 2.6 percent.

India: Incidence of Crime, 2004-2014

16000000
14000000
12000000
10000000
8000000
6000000
4000000
2000000
0
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Year Incidence IPC Incidence SLL

Source: Crimes in India, NCRB, 2014

There is a steady increase in the contribution of IPC crimes to the total cognizable crimes in the
country from 2004 to 2014. The proportion has increased from 30.4 percent to 39.4 percent.

IPC Crimes:
As stated earlier a total of 28, 51,563 incidences of total cognizable crimes under IPC were
reported during the year 2014. Madhya Pradesh accounted for 9.6 percent of total IPC crimes
reported in the country followed by Maharashtra (8.8 percent), Uttar Pradesh (8.4 percent), and
Rajasthan (7.4 percent). During the year 2013, Maharashtra ranked first and accounted for 8.9
percent of total IPC crime and was followed by Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh (8.6 percent
each).

IPC Crimes: Percentage Contribution to All-India Total

8.8%
9.6% MP
Mah

Andhra Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh Assam Bihar Chhattisgarh Goa

Gujarat Haryana Himachal Pradesh Jammu & Kashmir Jharkhand Karnataka
Kerala Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Manipur Meghalaya Mizoram
Nagaland Odisha Punjab Rajasthan Sikkim Tamil Nadu
Telangana Tripura Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand West Bengal A & N Islands
Chandigarh D&N Haveli Daman & Diu Delhi UT Lakshadweep Puducherry

Source: Crimes in India, NCRB, 2014

On comparison of data of 2013 and 2014 an interesting fact is brought forth that the States of
Andhra Pradesh (8.2 percent) and Tamil Nadu (7.7 percent) which ranked high at third and
fourth positions in the year 2013 showed a remarkable reduction in their contribution to the total
IPC crime scene of the Country. Their contribution now is 4.0 percent and 6.8 percent
respectively. There seems to be a Northward shift in the incidence of the crime under IPC. The
more populous states of Northern India now contribute a large share of the total cognizable crime
 under IPC committed in the country. The only exception to this rule is the state of Kerala which
ranks fifth in the country.
In the year 2014 Delhi reported the highest crime rate (767.4) followed by Kerala (585.3),
Madhya Pradesh (358.5), and Haryana (298.2). Out of 29 States, eleven have a crime rate higher
than the average State figure of 220.5. The States contribute 94.3 percent of the total incidence of
cognizable crime committed under IPC in the year 2014.
State/UT Incidence of Total Cognizable Crimes Percentage Contribution to All-India Total
Andhra Pradesh 114604 4.0
Arunachal Pradesh 2843 0.1
Assam 94337 3.3
Bihar 177595 6.2
Chhattisgarh 58200 2.0
Goa 4466 0.2
Gujarat 131385 4.6
Haryana 79947 2.8
Himachal Pradesh 14160 0.5
Jammu & Kashmir 23848 0.8
Jharkhand 45335 1.6
Karnataka 137338 4.8
Kerala 206789 7.3
Madhya Pradesh 272423 9.6
Maharashtra 249834 8.8
Manipur 3641 0.1
Meghalaya 3679 0.1
Mizoram 2140 0.1
Nagaland 1157 0.0
Odisha 74569 2.6
Punjab 37162 1.3
Rajasthan 210418 7.4
Sikkim 1065 0.0
Tamil Nadu 193200 6.8
Telangana 106830 3.7
Tripura 5499 0.2
Uttar Pradesh 240475 8.4
Uttarakhand 9156 0.3
West Bengal 185672 6.5
A & N Islands 746 0.0
Chandigarh 3221 0.1
D&N Haveli 277 0.0
Daman & Diu 233 0.0
Delhi UT 155654 5.5
Lakshadweep 81 0.0
Puducherry 3584 0.1
TOTAL (ALL INDIA) 2851563 100.0
SLL Crimes:
As stated earlier in the year 2014 a total of 43, 77,630 cognizable crimes were committed under
SLL in the country. More than half of it was committed in a single state of Uttar Pradesh. Uttar
Pradesh contributed a giant share of 54.7 percent to the total SLL crime in the Country. It was
distantly followed by Kerala with 9.2 percent. Uttarakhand reported highest SLL crime rate of
1640.6 in the Country during the 2014 followed by Kerala (1142.2) and Chattisgarh (1127.1).
Only five States have a higher crime rate under SLL than the average States figure. States
contribute 99.7 percent of the total incidence of cognizable crimes under SLL.
State/UT Incidence of Total Cognizable Crimes Percentage Contribution to All-India Total
Andhra Pradesh 25278 0.6
Arunachal Pradesh 195 0.0
Assam 3064 0.1
Bihar 17445 0.4
Chhattisgarh 285611 6.5
Goa 3006 0.1
Gujarat 290914 6.6
Haryana 35522 0.8
Himachal Pradesh 2962 0.1
Jammu & Kashmir 1605 0.0
Jharkhand 6321 0.1
Karnataka 25665 0.6
Kerala 403576 9.2
Madhya Pradesh 101746 2.3
Maharashtra 134981 3.1
Manipur 868 0.0
Meghalaya 304 0.0
Mizoram 435 0.0
Nagaland 514 0.0
Odisha 19088 0.4
Punjab 27812 0.6
Rajasthan 58140 1.3
Sikkim 200 0.0
Tamil Nadu 311879 7.1
Telangana 20876 0.5
Tripura 260 0.0
Uttar Pradesh 2393330 54.7
Uttarakhand 170767 3.9
West Bengal 20708 0.5
TOTAL STATE(S) 4363072 99.7
UNION TERRITORIES
A & N Islands 2122 0.0
Chandigarh 1457 0.0
D&N Haveli 20 0.0
Daman & Diu 19 0.0
Delhi UT 9908 0.2
Lakshadweep 34 0.0
Puducherry 998 0.0
TOTAL UT(S) 14558 0.3
TOTAL (ALL INDIA) 4377630 100.0

Regional Imbalance of Crime in India

Crime in nowhere evenly distributed amongst the states of any country. In India, some states
contribute much higher than other states to the crime scenario of the country. It is widely
understood that crime is a reflection and also an outcome of the fulfillment or non-fulfillment of
the socio-economic aspirations of people, it is unevenly distributed amongst the states. Thus,
regions of crime in India cannot be understood in isolation. Their undeniable linkage with
economic and social development of a place needs to be reinforced. For the purpose of
understanding a regional distribution of Crime in India, following analysis are undertaken:

1. Categorization of Indian States into low, medium and high crime states.
2. Analysis of ranking of states based on events of crime and socio-economic development
measured through Human Development Index (HDI) of the states. Economic
development and social development are mutually reinforcing. Disparities in economic
development and social development are also mutually reinforcing. States which are
socially excluded (performing poor on social indicators, female-male ratio, literacy rates
etc.) are also economically marginalized. There exist several dimensions of economic and
social disparities of development in the country. This is further reflected in the crime
regionalization in the country.

The most basic limitation of official crime statistics is that they only include crimes actually
recorded by the police. There is a long chain of problematic decisions between possible crime
and its registration by the police. The majority of crimes, especially petty thefts, are never
reported to the police at all. Even in the case of violent crimes, more than one-third of the victims
choose not to contact the police, claiming that it is a private affair they have dealt with
themselves. As a result of partial reporting and partial recording of crimes, the official crime
statistics reflect only a portion of overall offences.
The agency entrusted with the task of accumulating, tabulating, analyzing crime data in the
country is National Crime Research Bureau (NCRB).

As stated earlier, crime in India is divided into IPC crimes and SLL Crimes. For understanding
the regional imbalance of crime in India, both types of events of crimes in states are taken
together. A total of 7229193 crimes under various heads were committed in the country in the
year 2014. It is apparent from the table that a giant share (almost 37 percent) of the total crime
committed in the country is committed in the state of Uttar Pradesh alone. It is distantly followed
by Kerala (8.44%), Tamil Nadu (6.98%), Gujarat (5.84%) and Maharashtra (5.32%). The top
seven states in terms of events of cognizable crime committed in the country contribute almost
three-fourths of the total crime incidences reported in the country.

Incidence of
Total Incidence of Total
Cognizable Cognizable
State/UT Crimes (IPC) Crimes(SLL) Total Crimes Percentage of Total Crimes
Andhra Pradesh 114604 25278 139882 1.934960099
Lakshadweep 81 34 115 0.001590772
Daman & Diu 233 19 252 0.003485866
D&N Haveli 277 20 297 0.004108342
Sikkim 1065 200 1265 0.017498495
Nagaland 1157 514 1671 0.023114613
Mizoram 2140 435 2575 0.035619467
A & N Islands 746 2122 2868 0.039672478
Arunachal Pradesh 2843 195 3038 0.042024054
Meghalaya 3679 304 3983 0.055096053
Manipur 3641 868 4509 0.062372107
Puducherry 3584 998 4582 0.063381902
Chandigarh 3221 1457 4678 0.064709851
Tripura 5499 260 5759 0.07966311
Goa 4466 3006 7472 0.103358701
Himachal Pradesh 14160 2962 17122 0.236845247
Jammu & Kashmir 23848 1605 25453 0.352086326
Jharkhand 45335 6321 51656 0.714547253
Punjab 37162 27812 64974 0.898772519
Odisha 74569 19088 93657 1.295538797
Assam 94337 3064 97401 1.34732881
Haryana 79947 35522 115469 1.597259888
Telangana 106830 20876 127706 1.766531894
 Karnataka 137338 25665 163003 2.254788328
Delhi UT 155654 9908 165562 2.29018647
Uttarakhand 9156 170767 179923 2.488839349
Bihar 177595 17445 195040 2.697949826
West Bengal 185672 20708 206380 2.854813808
Rajasthan 210418 58140 268558 3.714909811
Chhattisgarh 58200 285611 343811 4.755869708
Madhya Pradesh 272423 101746 374169 5.17580593
Maharashtra 249834 134981 384815 5.323069947
Gujarat 131385 290914 422299 5.841578721
Tamil Nadu 193200 311879 505079 6.986658124
Kerala 206789 403576 610365 8.443058582
Uttar Pradesh 240475 2393330 2633805 36.43290475
TOTAL (ALL INDIA) 2851563 4377630 7229193
Source: Modified from NCRB Report, 2014.

The states are divided into four categories based on the number of cognizable crime committed.
1. Very low incidence of crime (less than 10,000 events reported)
Out of total states, fourteen states belong to this category. The states in this category are all small
states of the country. This region comprises of six union territories, seven of the states from the
north-east part of the country and Goa. This region is the one with very low incidence of reported
crime. The region contributes only 0.59 percent of the total crime committed in the country. This
is understandable because the population base of the region is also very small. Large part of the
region is in the difficult terrain of the north-east part of the country and also area wise is a small
region.
Incidence of Crime Number of States/UTs States/Uts
less than 10,000 events reported 14 Lakshdweep, Daman and Diu, Dadra
and Nagar Haveli, Sikkim,
Nagaland, Mizoram, Andaman and
Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh,
Meghalaya, Manipur, Chandigarh,
Tripura, Puducherry, Goa.

2. Low incidence of crime (between 10,000 to 1 lakh)

Six states belong to this category. They are: Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand,
Punjab, Odisha and Assam. These six states contribute 4.84 percent of the total reported crime in
the country. This region is an amalgamation of some of the richest states of India (in terms of
percentage of poor in the total population) like Punjab and also one of the poorest states of
Odisha. Three (Punjab, Odisha and Assam) of the six states have a high contribution of
agriculture as compared to manufacturing in the Net State Domestic Product (NSDP).
Incidence of Crime Number of States/UTs States/Uts
between 10,000 to 1 lakh 6 Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and
Kashmir, Jharkhand, Punjab,
Odisha, Assam

3. Medium incidence of crime (between 1 lakh and 4 lakh)

There are twelve states in this category. This region can be called the north central belt of crime
in this country. Some of the biggest states like Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh belong
to this category. These states contribute almost 35 percent of the total reported crimes committed
in the country. But, also true is the fact that their contribution in the total population is much
higher than their contribution to the crime scene.

Incidence of Crime Number of States/UTs States/Uts

between 1 lakh to 4 lakh
12 Andhra Pradesh, Haryana,
Telengana, Karnataka, Delhi UT,
Uttarakhand, Bihar, West Bengal,
Rajasthan, Chattisgarh, Madhya
Pradesh, Maharashtra.

4. High Incidence of crime (Over 4 lakh)

There are four states in this category. The four huge contributors of the crime scenario of India
are Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat. These states contribute almost 58 percent of
the total reports incidents of crime in India. Whereas, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat are
big states, Kerala inspite of being a very small state contribute a large share of crime in the
country. Sociologists claim that certain socio-economic factors make certain population or areas
to be more crime prone than others. For this region, poverty and poor population may be a factor
for high crime incidence in Uttar Pradesh but this explanation doesn’t hold well in case of rich
states like Kerala and Gujarat.
 Incidence of Crime Number of States/UTs States/UTs
Over 4 lakh 4 Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu
and Gujarat.

The incidence of reported crimes is very unevenly distributed in our country. Whereas sixteen
states together contribute about 93 percent of the total reported crimes in this country. Another
twenty states contribute less than six percent of the total reported crime in this country. Kerala
has the highest PPP income per capita (PPP2008$) and the state also has the dubious distinction
of one of the highest reported cases of cognizable crime only after Uttar Pradesh.

Crime and Socio-Economic Profile

A crucial measure of understanding the socio-economic performance of a state or country is
Human Development Index (HDI). Development is thought to be a roadblock for enhancement
of crime. An Attempt was made to understand whether the states ranking on HDI inversely
follow the ranking on crimes. Since, HDI as a measure of development is most holistic in nature
and takes into account different aspects like literacy, health and economic access, states with
high HDI rankings should show low incidences of crime and vice versa. The first Human
Development Report in 1990 introduced a new way of measuring development by combining
indicators of life expectancy, educational attainment and income into a composite human
development index, the HDI. The components are measured by four variables: GDP per capita,
(PPP USD), literary rates (%), combined gross enrollment ratio,(%) and life expectancy at birth
(years). The composite index results in a figure between 0 and 1, of which 1 indicates high level
of human development and 0 being no level of human development.
Students Activity
List the states according to the sex-ratio, female literacy and see how these states fare vis-à-vis
incidence of crime against women and rape.
Refer to www.ncrb.org

The major states are distributed between the categories of countries with ‘Medium’ and ‘Low
Human Development’. As per the HDR 2014 classification, Kerala, with a global HDI of 0.625,
is in the ‘Medium HDI’ category. Other major states in this group are Punjab, Himachal Pradesh,
Haryana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat, West Bengal and Uttarakhand. Nine
other states, namely Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Madhya
Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Orissa fall in the ‘Low HDI’ category.
States Crime Category
High HDI Kerala High
Punjab Low
Himachal Pradesh Low
Haryana Medium
Maharashtra Medium
Tamil Nadu High
Karnataka Medium
Gujarat High
West Bengal Medium
Uttarakhand Medium
Low HDI Andhra Pradesh Medium
Assam Low
Uttar Pradesh High
Rajasthan Medium
Jharkhand Low
Madhya Pradesh Medium
Chattisgarh Medium
Bihar Medium
Odisha Low
In India, there seems to be no inter-linkages between HDI rankings and the rankings based on
incidence of crime committed in the states. Kerala is an unexplained case where most of the
socio-economic indicators show high performance but the state also ranks the second highest in
incidence of crime after Uttar Pradesh as well as in rate of cognizable crime after Delhi UT.
There are other states too, like Odisha where HDI is low and so is crime rate as well as
incidence. But, then poverty and social indicators are not the only factors affecting crime. There
are crimes of deprivation and then there are crimes of abundance too. Thus, States with high
income levels (like Kerala) where state exchequer has abundance of money sent by people of the
state staying/working abroad is high, states where urbanization levels are high (like Tamil Nadu,
Gujarat) also tend to show high incidence of crimes.

Conclusions
Police departments, city officials and policy makers all recognize the importance of a better
understanding of the dynamics of crime. Both theoretical and applied approaches, and
combinations of the two, which provide insight into why and where crime takes place are much
in demand. Macrolevel analysis helps to identify problem neighborhoods. Microlevel analysis
helps to isolate precise trouble spots within neighborhoods and, as a result, allows for better
evaluation of crime and specific socioeconomic, demographic, land use and environmental
characteristics associated with these trouble spots. But, spatial patterns of crime or
regionalization of crime generates understanding of socio-economic factors of crime. Developing
an understanding of regionalization of crime focus around understanding the interplay between
crime, space and society. Developing an understanding of “social disorganization” model,
Sheffield School etc would help the students of this module.