Data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) paints a dark picture for Bengaluru as the city recorded the highest number of atrocities against scheduled caste people among metropolitans in the five southern states.
Lucknow, Patna and Jaipur were the only cities to record a higher number of atrocities against scheduled caste persons. While Lucknow topped the list with 262 instances of crime against scheduled caste people, Bengaluru was not far behind recording 207 instances of crime against scheduled caste people, up from 140 last year.
A majority of cases of the 207 crimes against scheduled caste persons was registered only under the Prevention of Atrocities Act and not under the Indian penal code. The city also recorded ten instances of atrocities against scheduled tribe people which was the same number as Ahmedabad, while only Hyderabad (21) and Jaipur (88) recorded higher numbers of incidences of crime against scheduled tribe people.
The latest data reported an increase in the total number of atrocities against scheduled caste and schedule tribe people in India. Atrocities against scheduled caste people has risen by 5.5% while atrocities against scheduled tribe people has risen by 4.7%.
The Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 and the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act are in place to safeguard India’s disadvantaged castes and tribes against violence. Besides, the Indian Penal Code, which addresses crime in India also has legal provisions to protect scheduled caste and scheduled tribe persons.
Yet data reported in the latest NCRB report shows an upward trend in the number of cases of violence against scheduled caste and scheduled tribe minorities. With the exception of Tamil Nadu, four other southern Indian states - Kerala, Karnataka, Telengana and Andhra Pradesh - all reported an increase in the number of atrocities against scheduled caste people. Andhra Pradesh with 2335 cases topped the list with Karnataka recording the second highest number of cases with 1869.