Guwahati, Dec 6: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has termed the sharp decline in crimes against women in the state since 2021 as a positive development and a reflection of strict actions, even as he pointed out that there was room for further improvement.
According to the latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), crimes against women in Assam have declined from 29,046 cases in the year 2021 to 14,148 cases in 2022.
“So, crimes against women in the state have dipped by about 51 percent, which is a positive development and a drastic improvement. Assam, which once recorded the highest rate of crimes against women, is currently placed seventh in the list. However, there is a long way to go before the state can go further down to the 15th rank and beyond,” Sarma said on Wednesday, while addressing a media conference here on the performance indicators showing the improvements of the state over the years.
“Besides, crimes against children too have declined from a total of 5,282 registered in 2021 to 4,084 cases registered last year,” he said, while adding that this year, owing to the child marriage cases, the number of cases would increase.
“The astounding fall in Assam’s crime rates against women and children is a reflection of our strictest actions against whosoever is involved in such cases,” the chief minister had earlier posted on his ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) platform.
“One of the key points of this media conference is to inform you that such a trend (decline in crime rate) is unprecedented because, in the past decade or so, we have not seen such a decline in the overall crime,” he said.
Notably, Assam has been ranked 20th by the NRCB in the overall crime rate in the country from the earlier 9th position.
NRCB, had in its latest report, highlighted the crime rate for all states in which Assam has witnessed a drastic drop in the crime rate by 50 per cent since 2021.
According to the NCRB report, the crime rate (per lakh population) in Assam dipped by about 43 percent, from 341 cases in the year 2021 to 194.2 cases in the year 2022.
Besides, the report states that cases under IPC and Special and Local Laws (SLL) in Assam have substantially declined from 1,33,239 cases in the year 2021 to 68,937 cases last year.
Another positive development, the chief minister pointed out, has been the substantial increase in the conviction rate, which has jumped by 121 percent, from 6.13 percent in 2021 to 13.56 percent in 2022.
“According to the State Crime Records Bureau, the conviction rate till October 31 this year has gone up to nearly 16 percent,” Sarma said.
“Murder cases have gone down by about 10 percent, from 1192 cases in 2021 to 1072 cases in 2022. Besides, kidnapping and abductions too have declined to 4560 cases in 2022 from 7580 cases in 2021,” the chief minister said.
Additionally, cases of human trafficking have dipped by about 31 percent, from 203 cases in 2021 to 140 cases being registered in 2022.