Cities in Tamil Nadu -- Coimbatore and Chennai--- are the safest for women to live in as they have the lowest rate for crimes against women compared to 19 other metro cities in India, including Bengaluru and Mumbai, according to data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) for 2020.
The rate of crimes against women last year in these metropolitan cities were Coimbatore (9.0), Chennai (13.4), Bengaluru (67.3), Mumbai (53.8), Kochi (37.5) while the crime rate was highest in Lucknow (190.7), Jaipur (162.9), Delhi (129.1).
In Chennai, crimes against women have been declining between 2018 and 2020 at 761, 729 and 576. The city has a charge sheeting rate of 96.8%. In Coimbatore, however, the number of crimes against women was 107 in 2018 which dipped to 85 in 2019 and went up again to 97 in 2020 with a charge sheeting rate 97.9%.
However, in terms of absolute numbers, last year metro cities in Kerala had fewer crimes compared to Chennai. Kochi and Kozhikode saw 403 and 294 whereas Chennai had 576. But Coimbatore in absolute numbers too is the lowest in the country with 97 crimes last year. The difference being that the crime rate is calculated as per one lakh of population and Chennai is the largest metro among these four cities. The populations of Chennai, Coimbatore, Kochi and Kozhikode are 43.1 lakh, 10.7 lakh, 10.8 lakh, 10.6 lakh respectively.
Experts say that the lowest crime rate against women in Tamil Nadu cities can be attributed to two factors- lack of reporting and prevention mechanisms. “When there is a declining trend, we have to see through the data from various intersections. Are they complaining? If so, is their report being considered and registered or dismissed? Even in urban areas in gender based crimes there is stigma against reporting and some women get used to this and fail to report like in instance in sexual harassment in public places like buses,” says Sandhiyan Thiyagaran, founder of AWARE (Awareness for Women to Advocate their Rights and Empowerment) India. “However, compared to other metros in the country, in Tamil Nadu the law enforcement agencies help prevent crimes against women such as by patrolling and installing CCTVs. We have a few deterrents that other metros may not have in equal measure.”
{{/usCountry}}Experts say that the lowest crime rate against women in Tamil Nadu cities can be attributed to two factors- lack of reporting and prevention mechanisms. “When there is a declining trend, we have to see through the data from various intersections. Are they complaining? If so, is their report being considered and registered or dismissed? Even in urban areas in gender based crimes there is stigma against reporting and some women get used to this and fail to report like in instance in sexual harassment in public places like buses,” says Sandhiyan Thiyagaran, founder of AWARE (Awareness for Women to Advocate their Rights and Empowerment) India. “However, compared to other metros in the country, in Tamil Nadu the law enforcement agencies help prevent crimes against women such as by patrolling and installing CCTVs. We have a few deterrents that other metros may not have in equal measure.”
{{/usCountry}}Amongst these 19 Metropolitan Cities, cities reporting highest charge-sheeting rate under IPC Crimes are Surat (96.7%), Coimbatore (96.6%) and Ahmedabad (96.3%). Among the states it is Gujarat (97.1%), Kerala (94.9%) and Tamil Nadu (91.7%).