Less than 10 per cent conviction rate for Mumbai police: RTI
8 Dec, 2012A non-governmental organisation, Praja Foundation, has been collecting data regarding different crimes and the follow up actions taken by the Mumbai police, through the use of Right to Information (RTI) Act.
The data shows that out of 44,874 cases of serious crime like murder, rape, kidnap that went to trial in 2011, convictions could be secured only in 335 cases. Also out of 1,61,528 cases heard in 2011, judgment is pending in 1,49,232. The information gathered through RTI shows that in a total of 12,762 serious cases, accused were charge-sheeted in only 5,772.
Crimes like rape and molestation reflect a serious need in policing. While cases of theft and murder have dropped between 2008 and 2012, crimes against women have increased alarmingly. Between 2008 and 2012, cases of rape increased by 7 percent and those of molestation by 34 percent.
While shortage of sanctioned police personnel and diversion of staff on ‘bandobast or nakabandi duties’ has been attributed as the major reason affecting operation of work and leading to overburden of work for the existing workforce, the figures point to the need to introspect and scrutinise the changes required in policing.