ASSIGNMENT SUBMISSION

FOR

CONTINUOUS EVALUATION – III

IN THE COURSE OF

CRIMINOLOGY

2BAL233

ON

UNDERSTANDING CRIMES IN INDIA IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS

GUIDED BY: SUBMITTED BY:

DR. DEBA RANJAN HOTA ABHISHEK NENUJI –

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR 21BAL080
DR. VARSHA GANGULY AKSHAT JAIN – 21BAL087
FALAK HOODA – 21BAL102
PROFESSOR
NIDHI SINGH – 21BAL121
OJASWINI SINGH –
21BAL122

INSTITUTE OF LAW, NIRMA UNIVERSITY

INTRODUCTION
This report analyses two crimes in respect to the state of Rajasthan from the year 2014 to 2019.
The crimes being Rape with murder/Gang Rape and Dowry Prohibition, these will respectively
come under the purview of Indian Penal Code and the Special and Local Laws of Rajasthan.
This report will use collection of NCRB data and other such sources to provide a detailed case
analysis of the two given crimes in Rajasthan.

METHODOLOGY
Methodology in this report follows acquiring of data through NCRB reports available on the
official website of NCRB. This data selected is of 5 years, from 2015- 2019. Written analysis is
done after observation of the tables given. Overall analysis of incidence rate of both crimes is
done and on this basis recommendations are given.

CRIME UNDER INDIAN PENAL CODE

Rape with murder/ gang rape

YEAR NO. OF INCI- NO. OF FEMALE CRIME RATE

DENCES/CASES VICTIMS
2015 3644 3649 10.5
2016 3656 3657 10.4
2017 3305 3319 09.3
2018 4335 4337 11.7
2019 5997 6051 15.9

*Data per lakh of population

as per the https://ncrb.gov.in database

In the year 2019, Rajasthan recorded 5997 cases, highest in all over India with a crime rate of
15.9 percent. This was a huge increase from the year 2015 where the reported cases were 3664
and an increase of 81.45 per cent in 2019 when compared to 2017, where 3305 cases were
reported. There was only a slight increase in 2016 of 3656 from 2015 where the reported cases
were 3644.
While 3305 cases were lodged in 2017, the number rose and touched 4335 in 2018. From 2018
– 2019, crimes against women increased by 49.14% in Rajasthan. In the same year, cases of
rape registered under POCSO Act had an increase of 22 per cent.1
Out of 5997 cases reported in 2019, 4684 cases were of women above the age of 18 whereas
1313 cases were of women under the age of 18.
There was an increase of 5.4 per cent in the crime rate in 2019 where it was 15.9 per cent when
compared to 2015 where it was 10.5 per cent.
In order to fully understand the crime on a time scale, we compared this data to the occurrence
of rape incidents all over India. The result was as follows –

Total Rape Cases (India)

32260 36975

33977
34771

33658
36881

2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

As per the data given in NCRB reports, we have analysed that from the year 2014 to 2019 there
is a sharp decline in rape cases in India. In 2014 there were 36795 cases registered across the
country with a crime rate of 6.1% and it has been reduced to 32260 cases with a crime rate of
4.9%. However, in the year 2016, there was an increase in the rape cases with a rate of 6.0%
against the previous year’s 5.7% crime rate. The decline in rape cases is possibly an
achievement for the country.

CRIME UNDER SPECIAL AND LOCAL LAWS OF RAJASTHAN

Dowry Prohibition

1
TNN / Updated: Jan 7, 2020. (n.d.). Rape cases in Rajasthan up 81% in 2019 compared to two years ago: Jaipur News - Times of
India. The Times of India.
The Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961 was enacted on May 1, 1961, intended to prevent the
giving or receiving of a dowry. The cases relating to Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 at the
national level {2014-2019} are as follows according to NCRB.
YEAR INCIDENTS VICTIMS RATE
2015 500737 - 40.6
2016 9649 9649 1.6
2017 10168 10353 1.7
2018 12805 12805 2.0
2019 13264 13641 2.1

The national level data in the year 2015 is extremely high and then in the year 2016 there is a
sudden decline which then continues to rise in the coming years. This proves that the crime of
dowry is consistently on increase in our country, and which is causing significant increase in
the dowry related deaths in our country.
The cases relating to dowry prohibition act in state of Rajasthan according to the National
Crime Records Bureau from the year 2014 to 2019 are as follows:
YEAR INCIDENTS VICTIMS RATE
2015 0 - 0
2016 3 3 0.0
2017 1 1 0.0
2018 5 5 0.0
2019 4 4 0.0

This data has officially been taken from NCRB reports of the following years. The data is
conspicuously strange as the maximum incidents reported under this in the state of Rajasthan is
5, hence the rate is 0. It is contravening in the sense that dowry deaths in the state of Rajasthan
registered under IPC are quite high whereas under dowry prohibition act it is almost zero. The
major reason behind this discrepancy could be that as described in a UN paper that as dowry
means material goods and property which the law does not prohibit every exchange made
during the wedding especially the voluntary ones. The law does not differentiate between
coercion and voluntary. The act holds both the giver and taker of dowry liable under this act
therefore it has such low reportage. Another reason for the discrepancy in the data is the state
police authorities are not much efficient in dealing with cases under this act in Rajasthan. It has
Almost been six decades since the Dowry Prohibition Act went into effect in 1961 but the crime
never stopped. One of the most heinous incidents has emerged from Rajasthan's Nagaur district
in the year 2018 where a woman was burned alive by her in-laws. They starved her for two
days before setting her on fire. Her only blunder was failing to pay the dowry. Her in-laws
demanded Rs 5 lakh in cash and a car as dowry from her parents. Torturing and even murdering
a woman to punish her for failing to provide more dowries is still a common practise in
modern-day Rajasthan.

BRIEF NOTE
Considering the collection of above data what one can infer from it is that the crimes against
women in the state of Rajasthan are increasing at an exponential rate, be it rape or dowry
related violence. Comin to the research process, though NCRB is an esteemed authority mainly
responsible for collection of data on crimes in India, it was shockingly strenuous to use
NCRB’s data as a source in this report. There were massive discrepancies between the real-life
occurrences of these crimes and the ones given in NCRB reports over the years. We hear about
such crimes taking place on a regular basis around us through media reports etc. but somehow
these crimes are represented in agonizingly small numbers in the NCRB reports. This posed as
a massive challenge during the research process. Besides these challenges, the research process
proved to be fruitful. The outcome of the research is encapsulated below.
 Findings on rape incidents under IPC in the state of Rajasthan as opposed to all over
India- What one can understand from the data analysis of rape incidents that occurred in
Rajasthan is that the crime was distinctly increasing from the 2015 till 2019. As was
mentioned, 2019 witnessed the highest amount of rape incidents in Rajasthan. But in
comparison, India as a whole saw sharp decline in rape incidents during the 5 years. This
dissimilarity of crime incidents could be credited to lack of education and sociological
growth of people living in Rajasthan. Another reason could be lack of proper reportage in
the state.
 Findings of dowry related incidents under Dowry Prohibition Act 1961- The data
analysis of this section suggests that crimes related to dowry were slowing declining all
over India, but nothing can be said regarding statistics in Rajasthan. This was due to the
lack of coverage of crimes in Rajasthan in the NCRB reports. NCRB failed to accurately
represent the rate of dowry related crimes in Rajasthan, as shown in the tables mentioned
above. This abominable situation of reportage of crimes in NCRB is an indication of how
dire the conditions are for women living in the state. Any reasonable person would know
that Rajasthan remains near the top of the list of dowry related crimes every year without
 fail. Why is there such a discrepancy in the real life and presented stats in NCRB, we fail
to understand. A real-life incident is highlighted to showcase the plight of women in
Rajasthan who face violence because of failure in giving dowry or some related issue.
Moving on to the recommendations for legal regime based on sociological understanding of the
phenomenon of crime incidence. Few recommendations that this report puts forward are given
below.
 While dealing with data analysis of rape incidents in India and specifically Rajasthan,
one aspect of reforming the system for betterment of women came up. Evidently,
backward areas of Rajasthan and India were more prone to such infliction of violence on
women. The remedy to such situation can be progressive schooling methods which
sensitise children towards subjects like Individual Autonomy and basic sex education
(which teaches the essence of sex education, that is, making children aware about their
sexual feeling in a safe and open environment). This will only be possible if children are
sent to school in the first, concerned authorities should pay much emphasis in making
education accessible in such areas, another difficulty that could arise in this process is
that the teachers will not be educated enough to teach children sensitive subjects like sex
education, this aspect can be solved if videos or articles by specialists of such subjects
are incorporated in the curriculum.
 Other recommendation that this report has regarding dowry related violence is that the
implementation of laws like Dowry Prohibition Act and Rules should be more stringent.
Another way in which we can curb such incidents is through empowering women and
teaching them that they should not remain silent under circumstances where violence,
instigated by failure in giving dowry or such related situation, is being inflicted upon
them. People should also have utmost faith and belief in their daughters when such
incidents come into their knowledge, in fact, elders must be alert regarding any signs that
show that such violence is being inflicted. They should without fail report occurrence of
such incidents to their nearest police stations as soon as possible. These are few ways in
which we can bring the incidence rate of such crimes very low.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
 Basu, Asmita. “HARMFUL PRACTISES AGAINST WOMEN IN INDIA: AN EXAMI-
NATION OF SELECTED LEGISLATIVE RESPONSES”. United Nations Conference
Centre, 2009. https://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/egm/vaw_legislation_2009/Expert
%20Paper%20EGMGPLHP%20_Asmita%20Basu_.pdf
 Mirror Now Digital. “Rajasthan Horror! Woman burnt alive by in-laws after her parents
fail to give dowry”. Oct 25, 2018. https://www.timesnownews.com/mirror-now/crime/ar-
ticle/rajasthan-nagaur-kukord-village-woman-burnt-alive-in-laws-dowry-prohibition-
dies-police-ipc/304534