NCRB: Nearly 1L cases on crimes against women in Kerala await trial at end of 2024

Kochi: The latest report from national crime records bureau (NCRB) found that 97,181 cases related to crimes against women were awaiting trial at the end of 2024. As per 2024 figures, the conviction rate stood at 17% while the pendency percentage was 92.4. The report showed that 14,190 cases came up for trial in 2024 even as 90,947 cases were awaiting trial from the previous year.Courts convicted the accused in 1,110 cases from the previous year while in 2024, the accused in 104 cases were convicted. A total of 1,214 convictions were reported in 2024, while courts acquitted the accused in 5,838 cases. The accused in 78 cases were discharged and courts completed trial in 7,130 cases. Courts disposed of 7,956 cases. In 571 cases FIRs were quashed and in 62 instances cases were compromised or compounded. A total of 826 cases were disposed of without trial.The report also showed that 3,965 cases were pending investigation from the previous year even as 15,037 cases were reported in 2024. In 2024, a total of 19,022 cases came up for investigation. A total of 3,908 cases were pending investigation at the end of the year.Among these cases, 503 ended as ‘final report false' while 127 cases ended as ‘mistake of fact or law or civil dispute'. There was insufficient evidence in 239 cases. Police filed chargesheets in 14,190 cases. The chargesheeting rate stood at 94.1% while the pendency percentage was 20.5.Criminologist Ajithkumar Varma said the long-term solution to bring down cases pending before courts is to bring down the crime rate. "For a lasting solution crime rate should come down through effective policing and policy making. At the same time, systems like fast-track court handling cases of atrocities against women have improved the situation. What we can do is increase the number of such courts to clear the backlog to an extent," he said.