Proposed Goonda Act: A mockery to Lakshadweep's crime rates

While the Praful Patel led administration in Lakshadweep brings new reforms like Goonda Act to the islands, the curious fact that leaves many wondering is why such disciplinary reforms are necessary in a place where crimes registered are relatively low. According to the latest (2019) statistics published by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Lakshadweep is one of the places in the country where crime rates are relatively low.

Lakshadweep recorded 267.6 as the rate of cognisable crimes under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Special and Local Laws (SLL).

Regarding the percentage of crimes in the whole country, the NCRB statistics show that Lakshadweep records zero.

Under IPC and SLL, 114 crimes were reported in 2017 and 77 in 2018. Out of 182 reported in 2019, 123 were of IPC and 59 of SLL.

In 2019 no cases of homicide or equivalent to murder, death due to other negligence, incitement to suicide, attempted murder, treason, etc., were not reported in the islands. In fact, only three cases of homicide were recorded in the entire history of the islands, and two out of them were registered at Andrott Island and the remaining at Kalpeni.

The majority of IPC cases reported on the island in that year were physical assault and harassment. 20.4 cases were registered in 2019 under IPC 323 and 324, respectively. Five cases of assault and eight cases of insult, both against women, were registered, but no single case of rape or attempted rape were reported in that year.

Twelve cases of political conflicts, 19 cases of theft- 12 out of them were vehicle theft and no robbery cases. While zero cases were reported under abduction, 25 cases under POCSO, 13 cases under related to drugs and liquor, some cases regarding vandalising properties, and a case of cheating were reported during 2019 in the island.