UT emerges as India’s most communal-friendly region
Srinagar, Oct 1: Jammu and Kashmir did not record a single case of communal or religious violence in 2023, reveals the annual report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
The report stated that while 425 riot cases were registered involving 655 people, none of them were linked to communal tensions. No sedition cases were registered during the year either.
The report showed that 3,653 cases of violence against women were registered in the Union Territory in 2023 compared to 3,937 in 2021. Kidnapping was the most common crime against women with 895 cases, followed by 524 cases of cruelty by husband and 231 cases of rape. A total of 427 women were abducted for forced marriage, including ten minors. Jammu and Kashmir ranked fourth among Union Territories in domestic violence cases with a rate of 8.1 percent.
The NCRB data recorded 84 murders, 1,004 cases of kidnapping overall, and 673 cases of death due to negligence, most of them road accidents. There were nine cases of dowry, 44 cases of abetment to suicide, 438 cases of attempted murder, and 434 cases of attempted suicide.
Cybercrime against women has emerged as a growing concern. Jammu and Kashmir topped all Union Territories with 43 such cases, including 39 related to dissemination of obscene material and four of blackmail or photo morphing.
Cases under Special and Local Laws increased to 4,468 in 2023, with a chargesheet filing rate of 90.7 percent, while cases under the Indian Penal Code fell from 27,447 in 2021 to 25,127 in 2023.
Jammu and Kashmir recorded the second-lowest rate of reporting murder cases among all the states and Union territories in 2023, with less than one case per one-lakh population, the NCRB data revealed.
The data has also revealed that Jammu and Kashmir saw a decline of more than 38 per cent in murder cases in two years.
According to the data, the rate of murder cases registered in the Union Territory for 2023 was 0.6. The crime rate is calculated as crime per one-lakh population.
The rate of murder cases registered in Jammu and Kashmir was lower than six other Union territories and all the 28 states. Only Lakshadweep had a lower rate of murder — zero.
The rate of murder in the Union territories was 1.7, while countrywide it was 2.
The highest rate of murder among the Union territories was recorded in Delhi (2.4), while Manipur (4.7) topped the chart among the states.
According to the data, Jammu and Kashmir witnessed 136 murder cases in 2021. The number of cases fell to 99 in 2022 and further to 84 in 2023 — a drop of 38.23 per cent in two years.
Jammu and Kashmir recorded the second-highest number of murder cases among the eight Union territories in 2023 that witnessed a total of 665 cases. Delhi had the highest of 506. Lakshadweep reported no murder case.
