Drop in crime rate across Kerala during lockdown, say police

: The crime rate

across Kerala came down significantly since the lockdown came into effect on March 24 following the spread of coronavirus, state police said in a report.

Prepared by the State Crime Records Bureau (SCRB), the report said there was a decline in the rate during the lockdown period in March 2020 when compared to the same period last year.

It said that from March 25 to March 31, 2019, there were 12 robbery cases which came down to two during the lockdown period this year.

The report showed there were 18 molestation cases from March 25 to March 31, 2020 while there were 92 during the same period last year.

 

However, there was not much decrease in murder cases.

The seven days of lockdown in March 2020 reported four murder cases while there were six cases last year.

"It's difficult to curtail offences like murder as it is a spontaneous offence happening out of various personal reasons. But there is a drastic reduction in the number of theft, riots cases, rape, kidnapping and cheating cases," a senior official of SCRB told PTI.

There was a major decrease in the Special and Local Laws (SLL) Crimes, including the Arms Act, NDPS Act and others.

While there were 1,460 road accident cases during the seven days between March 25 and 31, 2019, only 97 cases were reported during lockdown period in March this year.

There were 15 road accident deaths during the lockdown period this year but during the same period last year, the death toll was 181.

The state has been under total lockdown from March 24, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared nationwide lockdown to curb the COVID-19 pandemic.