The article contains a summarised study with respect to the potential causes for commission of crime in Bihar. The manuscript contains a summary of different reasons which are the possible root causes for the commission of crime in Bihar, and it also contains a data published by Bihar Police records and NCBI records in the year 2019 which show’s a number of different crimes such as murder, rape, theft etc., that are committed in the state over a period of time taken from 2001 to the year 2020.
With the help of this paper, the author has tried to show how politics is a possible reason for commission of crime in the state and how crime and politics are interconnected, and how both the components influence each other as political instability is also one of the reasons why crime is being committed. The author has also tried to reasonably portray the scenario as to how due to lack of employment the people are committing crime in the state in order to get some money.
As Bihar is a state where people are indulged more in agricultural and land activities and hence, ownership of land is always an issue there and hence, this paper the author has tried to indicate the possible effect of land dispute over occurrence of crime in the state.
The manuscript also contains conclusion with respect to the topic and it also includes certain reasonable suggestions which may be considered to improve the current situation in the state.
Introduction
Crime is an act committed or omitted which is prohibited by law. According to Jhon Austin Crime is a wrong which is pursued by the sovereign, or his subordinates is a crime.[1]According to Halsbury Law Crime is an Unlawful act which is an offence against public and renders the person guilty of the act or default liable of punishment.[2]India is a country in South Asia, and it is the second largest country in the world by population. In India there are 28 state, and 8 union territory and Bihar is one of the State in India. Bihar is a state in East India, and it shares border with Nepal and River Ganga divides it. It has the important Buddhist pilgrims located i.e. The Bodhi Tree which is in Bodhgaya and Patna is the capital of State, it is the Third largest state by Population.
In Bihar crime has been seen to be increasing drastically, everyday people can encounter several cases in Bihar whether it is Murder or robbery or rape anything and there are many reasons contributing to such.
Main Body
As Bihar is the third largest state by population it faces a lot of problems too and increase in crime is one of those problems. There are several factors contributing to increase in crime in Bihar. In last few years a rapid increase in crime has been seen the state whether it is Murder, Robbery or Rape or Kidnapping. It contributes 5.2% of crime in the country as of 2019. As per data prepared by Bihar Police, in 2001 number of cognizable offences registered were 95,942 and in 2020 figures has increased to 2,57,506.
Reasons-
- Land Disputes- In Bihar More than 60% of crime are a result of land dispute and as per the data of National Crime Record Bureau 2019, there were 3,707 case which occurred due to land dispute.[5]
Examples-
- A farmer and his son were killed in Rohtas (a district of south Bihar) because of a land dispute which arose between the farmer and his brother 2020
- Three persons including 2 land brokers were killed nearby a village named Ekma in Bihar due to land disputes in 2020
The most common scenario is that powerful person forcefully tries to get the land of poor person registered and when it does not happen, they tend to murder that person and, in many cases, even the officials does not help. And other scenarios for crime due to land dispute is for share in ancestral property as there are several cases in which brother got his brother killed so he need not to give him a share in the ancestral property.
- Unemployment- Unemployment can be one of the reasons for crime in Bihar as in this state, people are lacking employment due to which they tend to do crime more. The rate of unemployment in Bihar is 46% and because of unemployment now people are committing offences like highway robbery, illegal sale of liquor(as liquor is ban in Bihar), Bank robbery, Dacoity and murder. For a little amount of money people are committing murders.
Example- Recently, in a district of Bihar HDFC bank has been robbed for an amount of 1crore. Recently, in January 2021 Indigo Station Manager Rupesh Singh was murdered which was done due to a dispute over Tender.[6]In 2011, four persons were killed by dacoits after committing robbery in their house at night.
- Political Influence- In Bihar almost 70% of MLAs have criminal cases which can be one of the reasons of increasing crime in the state as when people in power do crime then nothing can be done by the general public. Candidates of election are likely to organize murder of people who are against them and are threat to him. Ministers make people do illegal works and if anyone refuses to do so then they get him killed.
Example- Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar himself has been an accused for Murder of opposition party candidate in Barh parliamentary constituency by-elections in 1991 murder case.[7]
Conclusion-
Bihar has a very fascinating history full of culture and heritage it had country’s first international university named as Nalanda university, it is heritage for Buddhists. In ancient time Bihar was the most developed region but now due to political instability, un-development, lack of industries Bihar has become the most backward region as in last 70 years Bihar has encountered 23 chief ministers due to which no development has taken place, and this is the reason why crime is increasing in Bihar the most in last 10 years Bihar has seen a drastic increase in crime rate as shown in Figure no. 1 above.
Suggestions-
- Need of more effective Law and order– Situation of law and order in the state is very poor as police officials has been given a lot of power and which are being misused and police is not focusing on controlling or preventing crime, but they are only into corruption, hence there is a need of new, effective and strict system
- Industrialization needs to be done- after division of Jharkhand and Bihar all industries moved to Jharkhand and no new industry has been set up in Bihar hence, in order to increase income of people and decrease crime for money industrialization needs to be done.
- Education system should be made more effective– there is a need of effective people friendly education policy as now also schools does not have all facilities, so people do not opt to go schools they are not aware about how much it is important to be educated as there is no proper policy to do so.
- Good governmental policies need to be made– government need to make good and effective developmental policies and fulfil them
- Surveillance committee should be there to look over activities of police– as mentioned in Bihar police personnel do not do their duty responsibly, they are just into corruption, hence there is a to setup a committee which shall look over the working of police
- Stability of government is needed- as mentioned in last 70 years 23 minsters has taken the oath of chief minister in Bihar due to which Bihar has never been developed because if last ruling party makes any developmental policy then when new political party comes it cancels all the projects which is a major hurdle in the way of development.
Bibliography
LiveMint. Retrieved from www.livemint.com
IndianKanoon. Retrieved from www.indiankanoon.org
Paranjape, N. V. (2020). Criminology, penology and victimology. central law publication.
[1] Criminology, penology & Victimology by N V Paranjape
[2] Criminology, penology & victimology by N V Paranjape
[3] Bihar Police official records
[4] Bihar Police records
[5] 2019 NCBU records
[6]Livemint
[7] Nitish Kumar v State of Bihar, 2019