KOCHI: Much was discussed about the fall in crime rate because of Covid-19-induced lockdown in 2020. Latest crime data of Kerala police reveals that though crimes like burglary, theft, rape and kidnapping have fallen in 2020, offences like murder, cheating and cyber crimes have witnessed an increase in the year. Also, it’s for the first time in a decade that the number of cheating cases has peaked in 2020.
State Police Chief Loknath Behera said it’s natural for certain crimes to fall and a few offences to increase during a pandemic period. “Cheating cases increased because financial strain due to pandemic has resulted in breach of trust between people. It’s a fact that increase in online activities is simultaneous with growing online fraud and cyber crimes,” he said. As per the provisional crime data of Kerala Police for 2020, the number of murders increased from 287 in 2019 to 303. The number of cheating cases which stood at 5,606 in 2019 increased to 8,639 while cyber cases saw an increase from 307 in 2019 to 550.
The number of rape cases which was 2,076 in 2019 fell to 1,808. Indian Criminology and Forensic Science Association president and criminologist Febin Baby said the fall in burglary cases was because of less opportunity for robbers to commit crime with people spending more time at their homes. “Increased presence of police on streets during the lockdown period was a deterrent. The fall in burglary cases was expected but spurt in cheating cases is alarming. The rise in cyber cases was also anticipated because of increased online activity of people,” Febin Baby said.