Every day,144 criminal cases are registered in Punjab. Every eight hours,a case of cruelty by in-laws is registered; every 10 hours,a murder is committed; every 17 hours,a women is raped; and every two hours,a theft is reported in the state. These facts are mentioned in a book,Crime In Punjab 2009,released by Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal here on Tuesday. The book also says 2.61 lakh complaints were received last year,an increase of 4.3 per cent over 2008. At 27,352,the highest number of complaints were from Kapurthala,followed by Ludhiana (24,973). A total of 2,631 incidents of crime against women were reported in the state last year. Of the 515 cases of rape reported,107 victims were under the age of 15 years,185 were teenagers,179 were between 19 and 30 years,43 were between 30 and 50 years and one was above 50 years. The offenders were known to victims in as many as 433 (84.7 per cent) cases. Torture cases,too,have increased by 7.8 per cent over the previous year. As many as 863 murder cases were registered in 2009 against 769 the previous year. As many as 29 per cent of the total cases registered under the Indian Penal Code were of murder,attempt to murder,kidnapping,causing death by negligence,as 10,461 such crimes were reported,followed by dacoity ,robbery,burglary and theft (8,339 cases). As many as 2,842 vehicles were stolen in the state last year 397 from Ludhiana,followed by SAS Nagar (356) and Jalandhar (319). The police were successful in recovering 1,101 stolen vehicles. A total of 729 cases of crime against children were reported in 2009 as compared to 389 cases in 2008,an increase of 87.4 per cent. The overall conviction rate was 33.3 per cent,as out of 35,465 trials completed,culprits were convicted in 11,800 cases. Sukhbir said the police would have to reorient its crime prevention strategy according to the fast changing crime pattern in the society. Crime in the state 2.61 lakh Complaints received 2,631 Cases of crime against women 984 Cases of torture 10.9 % Increase in murder cases,compared to 2008
