A tale of two UPs where crime is both high & low

Meerut: First, the good news. With an overall IPC/BNS crime rate of 180.2 per lakh population, as per the 2024 National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, UP ranks 18th among all states and UTs, much lower than the national average. The country’s average sits at 252.3. Delhi’s rate is a staggering 1,258.5. Kerala registers 513. Telangana 497.7.

Similarly, UP’s murder rate of 1.3 ranks it 29th nationally, below the Indian average of 1.9 -- Jharkhand (3.7), Chhattisgarh (3.3), and Haryana (3.1). And the robbery rate as well where the state records 0.5, against a national average of 1.6. Delhi alone is at 6.9.

On rape, UP’s rate of 2.8 is well below national figure of 4.3, and nowhere near Chandigarh’s 16.6 or Rajasthan’s 12.2. For crimes against children, UP ranks 27th, its rate of 26 dwarfed by Delhi’s 138.4. The state that political opponents have long described as ungovernable is, by violent street crime metrics, performing better than most of the country.

Then comes the other UP. On dowry deaths, UP ranks first in the nation with a crime rate of 1.8 per lakh against a national average of 0.8. In 2023, the rate was 1.9. Every year, women in UP are dying in their matrimonial homes at a rate more than double the country’s average. Figurewise, 5,737 cases of dowry deaths were reported nationally in 2024. UP topped the list with 2,038 deaths. While the cases of cruelty by the in-laws, including husbands, totalled 120,227 nationally.

On atrocities against Scheduled Castes, UP ranks 6th, with a rate of 35.6 that exceeds the national average of 27.7. In 2023, the rate was 36.6. Notably, MP and Rajasthan rank worse. Recent statistical data reveal a slight decline in reported crimes against SCs and STs in 2024 compared to the previous year. Specifically, cases involving crimes against SCs dropped to 55,698 from the 2023 total of 57,789. A more significant reduction was observed in offences against STs, which fell to 9,966 cases in 2024 from 12,960 in 2023. Geographically, the distribution of these incidents remains concentrated in specific regions.

UP reported the highest number of crimes against SCs with 14,642 cases, while MP and Bihar followed with 7,765 and 7,549 incidents, respectively. Regarding crimes against STs, MP maintained the highest number of recorded offences across the country.
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