Kochi: In what appears to be promising, Kerala has been showing a declining trend in murder cases registered for many years now. The worrying factor is that political murders in Kerala, however, show an upward trend.
According to the data available with the State Crime Records Bureau, 556 murders were reported in Kerala in the year 1977 and it came down to 509 in 1994, 334 in 2015, 306 in 2020 and 274 in 2021. However, the Kerala police do not keep a list of political murders in the state. An official of the state Intelligence told Mathrubhumi.com that nearly 50 murders took place in Kerala since 2011; which is higher when compared to the less than 40 political murders reported in a period between 1991 to 2011.
Effective functioning of police and higher conviction rate are the key reasons pointed out by top cops as the reason for the declining crime rates. When it comes to political murders, these factors have failed to make a difference.
The declining murder rate in Kerala is a matter to be cheered up as the national figure shows an upward trend. The number of murders in India went up from 18,376 in 1977 to 32,127 in 2015. A 75 percent increase in murder cases was shown nationally. Whereas, the murder rate in Kerala dropped by 40 percent, despite an increase in population by nearly 50 percent. The murder rate per million people also dropped from 22 in 1,977 to just 9 now.
When contacted the state police chief Anil Kant IPS claimed ignorance about the above said data and sought more time to study it to give a statement about it.
Former DGP of Kerala, Jacob Punnoose, said, “The state of Kerala can be proud of the declining murder cases and it can be showcased to attract more and more tourists to Kerala. Murder cases decline in Kerala due to various reasons. First of all, the number of cases registered in the state is very high and police effectively intervene in all issues. This prevents escalation of issues.”
He also said that the term political murder is ideologically wrong. “The term politics is used to address certain things which are for the welfare of the nation. Linking it with crimes is not a good trend. One can call it, murder committed by organised forces, such as political parties and groups under a leader,” added the former DGP.
He also said that if there is a dispute, the members of such organised groups would not seek the help of police to resolve the issue. “Instead, they escalate the issue by dealing with it in their own way. By the time, police intervene, maximum destruction must have happened.”
Police should be encouraged to interfere and take strict action when there are disputes among such organised groups. Police force should be freed from political influence, added Jacob Punnoose.
Not just murder cases, there has been a declining trend in total cognisable cases registered in the state. In the year 2019, total cognisable cases were 1,75,810, in 2019 it came down to 1,49,099 and 1,14,775 in 2021.
Crimes like rape, theft, riot, robbery, cheating etc have also come down. When the number of all the crimes cames down, political murders alone showed an upward trend.
“Kerala police have been functioning effectively;but when it comes to political issues they cannot do free policing. Police must be allowed to do their duty and political criminals must be convicted without fail,” said TP Senkumar, former state police chief.
According to a report, Kerala now has the highest rate of conviction in India (82%). The rate is far higher than the national average of 47 percent.
Historically, Kerala had one of the lowest conviction rates in India; as in 1994 Kerala’s conviction rate was only 24 percent when the national average was 43 percent. So, even with highest registration and highest charge sheeting rates, Kerala achieved the highest conviction rates. But when it comes to political murders, the conviction rate is abysmally poor and investigation is weak.
“Take a look at TP murder case convicts. They get luxurious life inside the jail and do not have to be in the prison for a long period. For them, jail term is not something hectic or hard. This motivates criminals to engage in political crimes as they get enough support from people who nurture them. This has to be curbed, free policing must be guaranteed and after all, severe punishment must also be ensured in political crimes. By doing all these, we can bring down political murders too in Kerala,” added Senkumar.
Published: 25 Dec 2021, 02:23 am IST
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