The National Crime Records Bureau’s (NCRB) 2023 report has exposed a “grim and troubling picture” for Tamil Nadu for a party that prides itself as champions of ‘social justice’. It reveals a stark contrast where a decline in overall violent crime masks a sharp and alarming surge in offenses against its most vulnerable citizen – Dalits and children.
A Statistical Surge in Atrocities
The report highlights a disturbing year-on-year increase in crimes against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Cases registered under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act rose from 1,761 in 2022 to 1,921 in 2023, a 9% jump. This surge appears even starker over a five-year horizon, with cases climbing 68% since 2019.
Similarly, crimes against children have followed an “upward trend,” with the state registering 6,968 cases in 2023, up from 6,580 the year before. The capital city, Chennai, mirrored this pattern, recording a jump from 54 to 573 cases. Experts warn that this trend reflects “serious gaps in social protection, policing, and child safety systems.”
Living A Lie, Massive Administrative Failure
Social activists Shalin Maria Lawrence and Vrinda Adige, speaking on a News9 panel moved beyond the statistics to indict the state’s law and order apparatus and political leadership.
The official statistics, provided by the state’s own Home Department, show a significant rise in registered cases. However, during analysis of these figures, a critical perspective emerged challenging the narrative that increased reporting indicates better law enforcement. Critics state that only minor statistical anomalies are acknowledged while rejecting the idea that improved reporting alone explains the surge.
A more alarming assessment suggested the official data represents just a fraction of actual crimes. Observers state that this number is the number that’s getting reported, but this is only one third of the actual cases and that is how it must be taken, indicating the true scale of violence may be three times higher than official records show.
Critics identified a pervasive culture of impunity as a primary driver of the increasing violence. The perception that offenders can escape justice through corruption is highlighted as a major concern. This perception is substantiated by abysmally low conviction rates, reported at just 5% for both SC/ST and women-related crimes. The poor conviction rate underscores systemic failures in the justice delivery mechanism, from investigation through prosecution.
The data and subsequent analysis reveal a state grappling with escalating violence against vulnerable communities, with official statistics potentially masking the true severity of the situation and systemic flaws enabling continued perpetration of crimes.
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