‘Samarthan’ report reveals alarming crime situation in Maharashtra; increase in atrocities against women and children

Information from the ‘Samarthan’ report
Criminals emboldened due to extremely low conviction rate !

Mumbai, 12 March (News) – A note presented by the ‘Economic Budget Study Centre’ of ‘Samarthan’ regarding the Home Department of the Government of Maharashtra has revealed the alarming state of crime in the State. The report states that there has been a significant rise in incidents of atrocities against women and children in the State, and the rate of punishment for criminals (conviction rate) remains worryingly low.

Disturbing reality in the report

1. A total of 47,901 crimes against women have been registered in the State. Shockingly, the conviction rate in cases of atrocities against women in Maharashtra is only 9.6 percent. As many as 95.1 percent of the cases are still pending in courts.

2. In crimes against children, Maharashtra ranks among the top two States in the country along with Madhya Pradesh (22,390 crimes). A large proportion of these are cases of kidnapping.

3. In the year 2023, 2,208 murder cases were reported in the State, while 3,618 cases of attempt to murder were registered. In addition, 13,906 kidnapping cases were reported.

4. A total of 960 offences have been registered under the Information Technology Act, and cyber crimes have increased by 39 percent in the metropolitan cities of Mumbai, Pune, and Nagpur. Through the method of ‘digital arrest’, financial fraud of more than ₹58 crore has been committed within 10 months.

5. A total of 763 offences have been registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act, and actions conducted through laying traps have proved effective. Disciplinary action at the departmental level has been taken against 638 Government employees found guilty. On the other hand, 5,342 complaints have been received against the Police, out of which cases have been registered in only 1,034 instances.

Judicial delays remain a major obstacle !

The report clarifies that although the speed of Police investigation and filing of chargesheets (more than 90 percent) is good, victims do not receive timely justice due to the bottleneck in the judicial process. The report concludes that the shortage of judges and repeated adjournments in court proceedings result in a situation where “justice delayed is justice denied.”