Whenever any heinous crime is reported in the capital or the crime data shoots up, the police and the government point their fingers to the “outsiders” in Delhi. The chief minister and police have many a times laid the blame on the migrants in Delhi even though they took their versions back under political pressure at times. Surprisingly, the truth seems to be far different if the data of Tihar Jail is to be believed.
The recent data shows that around 71.43 per cent inmates lodged for different criminal charges are natives of Delhi. Only 23.14 per cent of the inmates belong to other states. This 23.14 per cent includes convicts and undertrials from Bihar, UP, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and other states and also including some foreigners.
During the winter session of the Delhi Assembly, the home department of the Delhi government said in an answer that the people who come to Delhi from other states have a major role in the rising crime graph of Delhi. It said that people from other states come to Delhi alone to stay and work. They live without their families, which is one of the reasons of their involvement in criminal cases.
The data also shows a rise in number of young undertrials as around 53 per cent of male inmates, who are undertrials, are in the age groups of 21 to 30 years.
The data also shows that most of the inmates, convicted or undertrial, are lodged in the jail on charges of murder.
The statistics show that a total of 23.9 per cent male undertrials and 29.93 per cent of female undertrials are lodged in Tihar on charges of murder. Around 34.52 per cent male inmates and 46.55 female inmates are convicted of murder,” it said.
The data also reveals a clear link between poverty and crime. At least 92 per cent of the prisoners lodged in Tihar are from the lower income strata of society.
Of the 12,124 inmates lodged inside Tihar Prisons, the monthly income of 92 per cent inmates does not exceed `8,000, according to the data for year 2011.
“We found that there existed a direct nexus between illiteracy, poverty and criminality.
Aiming to curb the tendency to commit crime again when out of jail, we introduced the Padhao and Padhao programme,” said Tihar Prisons spokesperson Sunil Gupta.