As many as 1,452 cases of murder and attempted manslaughter were reported in 66 districts monitored by the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN), says a report issued here on Friday.
It says that out of these reported cases, 638 were that of premeditated murders and 814 of attempted murder. These crimes accounted for 5 percent of total 28,823 FIRs registered by police in the 72 districts surveyed by FAFEN.
Including the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), out these 72 districts, 29 fall in Punjab, 19 in Sindh, 18 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 5 in Balochistan. Approximately 11 percent of the total 28,823 FIRs registered nationwide in January 2011 pertained to the category of crimes involving physical harm to persons.
These included criminal acts like murder, involuntary manslaughter, attempted murder, illegal confinement and terrorism related incidents. This category represents 14 percent of the total offences if crimes against women are also included in this category.
The category of crimes against women accounted for just over 3 percent of the total crimes.
This includes offences of killing for ‘honour’, use of assault or criminal force against women with intent to rape, kidnapping, abduction or forced marriages etc. The crimes pertaining to property including theft, motor vehicle theft, extortion, robbery, criminal misappropriation of property and criminal trespassing stood for 24 percent of the nationwide registered FIRs while the category of threat and fraud represented 9 percent of the total crimes.
The monitored districts of Punjab accounted for 76 percent of the total registered crimes followed by 13 percent in Sindh, 9 percent in KP and 1 percent each in Balochistan and ICT. The high ratio of crime registration in Punjab may be attributed to its high population or to the mistrust of people on state-run judicial system.
It is important to note that a low rate of crime reportage in regions such as Balochistan and KP does not necessarily represent a low crime rate, but may indicate that other factors are at work. These might include the failure of the police to record crimes that are brought to their attention, citizens’ lack of trust in the police, or the existence of a strong parallel (traditional or community-run) justice system operating in various regions, says the FAFEN report.
Of threat and fraud cases, nearly 86 percent were reported in Punjab, followed by 10 percent in Sindh, 3 percent in KP and 1 percent in Balochistan. No information was available regarding all the crimes of this category in ICT. However, the share of Punjab in crimes against women registered nationwide, decreased from 73 percent in December to 67 percent in January 2011.
