The overall homicide rate in India has decreased by 10 per cent over a period of six years till 2015, but the trend increased “noticeably” in some northern states, according to a UN report.

The Global Study on Homicide 2019 published by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) also found that the number of female homicide victims were more than that of males in India. Males constitute less than 20 per cent of the total homicide victims in 2016 in India, the UN report revealed.

“In India, the overall homicide rate decreased by 10 per cent over the period 2009-15, from 3.8 to 3.4 per 100,000 population. At the same time, the spatial variation in the homicide rate shifted noticeably, with some states in the north registering an increase in the homicide rate, while some large states in the south experienced a decrease,” the report said.

The study found that Mumbai, which has a population of over 18 million, has one of the lowest homicide rates - just 0.9 - in large metropolises in Asia.

Main driver of homicides

The report attributed dowry-related killings as one of the contributors to more female homicide in India. “Available data on dowry-related killings from the National Crime Records Bureau indicate that female dowry deaths account for 40-50 per cent of all female homicides recorded annually in India, representing a stable trend over the period from 1999 to 2016,” it said.

Despite legislation adopted by the government in 1961 that prohibits the payment of dowry, the practice continues throughout the country and dowry deaths continue to account for a substantial share of all female homicides, the report noted.

Sorcery accusations is also one of the drivers behind gender-related killings. Data from India on homicide resulting from sorcery accusations show that, albeit in small proportions, this phenomenon still exists, the report noted.

Violent deaths on the rise

Some 464,000 people across the world were killed in homicides in 2017, surpassing by far the 89,000 killed in armed conflicts in the same period.

The study shows that the overall number of people who suffered a violent death as a result of homicide increased in the past quarter of a century, from 395,542 in 1992 to 464,000 in 2017. However, because the global population has risen faster than the increase in recorded homicide victims, the overall risk of being killed in homicides has declined steadily.

The global homicide rate, measured as the victims of homicide per 100,000 people, declined from 7.2 in 1992, to 6.1 in 2017.

Organised crime alone was responsible for up to 19 per cent of all homicides in 2017. Since the start of the 21st century, organised crime killed about as many people as all armed conflicts across the world combined.

Central America is the most dangerous region to live, where the number of homicides rises in some “hotspots”, to 62.1 per 100,000 people.

From a gender angle, the UNODC report also finds that while girls and boys aged nine and under are more or less equally represented in terms of victim numbers, in all other age groups, males make up more than 50 per cent of the toll, according to data from 41 countries.

Need of the hour

* The study also underlines the importance of addressing corruption, strengthening the rule of law and investing in public services - particularly education; these are “critical” in reducing violent crime, it insists.

* For those young men already caught up in criminal gangs, they need help “so that they can extricate themselves” through social work, rehabilitation programmes and awareness-raising about non-violent alternatives.

* These efforts could be more effective if they took place in “certain countries in South and Central America, Africa and Asia” and “even in countries with high national rates of homicide”, the report insists.

What is the purpose of UNODC?

UNODC is a global leader in the fight against illicit drugs and international crime. Established in 1997 through a merger between the UN Drug Control Programme and the Centre for International Crime Prevention, UNODC operates in all regions of the world through an extensive network of field offices. UNODC relies on voluntary contributions, mainly from governments, for 90 per cent of its budget.

UNODC is mandated to assist member states in their struggle against illicit drugs, crime and terrorism. In the Millennium Declaration, member states also resolved to intensify efforts to fight transnational crime in all its dimensions, to redouble the efforts to implement the commitment to counter the world drug problem and to take concerted action against international terrorism.

The three pillars of the UNODC work programme are…

* Field-based technical cooperation projects to enhance the capacity of member states to counteract illicit drugs, crime and terrorism.

* Research and analytical work to increase knowledge and understanding of drugs and crime issues and expand the evidence base for policy and operational decisions.

* Normative work to assist states in the ratification and implementation of the relevant international treaties, the development of domestic legislation on drugs, crime and terrorism, and the provision of secretariat and substantive services to the treaty-based and governing bodies.