Data nerds, rejoice! The National Crimes Records Bureau (NCRB) has released its data on crime in India in 2015. Beyond applauding NCRB for this mammoth task, which gives us an invaluable glimpse into the changing nature of criminality in India, there is some reason to celebrate. In comparison to 2014’s data, it seems there’s five per cent dip in national average as far as serious crime. Unfortunately, the numbers are still unsettlingly high.  

According to the latest data released by the NCRB on Tuesday, Uttar Pradesh (UP), West Bengal (WB), Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh (MP) top the list of reported crimes against women in 2015.  

UP tops list with 35,527 cases reported, WB follows closely behind with 33,218 such cases. Maharashtra reported 31,126 cases, while Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh reported 28,165 and 24,135 cases respectively. That means an average of 97 crimes against women are reported in UP, every single day. States from the North-east India fared better. Sikkim had only 53 cases, followed by Nagaland (90), Mizoram (158), Manipur (266), and Meghalaya (334).

While UP, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal, and Madhya Pradesh are the most populous states in India (as per the 2011 census), it’s worth noting the starkly contrasting numbers. Among cities, Delhi remains the most unsafe city, with a crime rate that’s well above the national average. Delhi and Maharashtra are two places in India where the data shows no decline in rapes. They also recorded a jump in the number of stalking cases reported. Maharashtra had 1,399, while Delhi had 1,124. The good news is that the national average for crimes against women has gone down by 3.1 per cent.

This year, NCRB has added another important filter to the data its collected on rape – the relationship of the victim to the accused. Indian Express’s analysis of the data revealed that while only two per cent of the rapes committed on women were in the workplace, as much as 25.3 per cent of rapes on children had employers or co-workers as the accused. It brings home just how critically important it is to crack down on child labour and how unsafe the workspace is for children.

UP also tops the list when it comes to the number of murder cases reported during 2015, with 4732 such instances, to be followed by Bihar (3178), Maharashtra (2509), MP (2339) and West Bengal (2096). States with the lowest number of murder cases are Sikkim (17), Goa (31), Mizoram (36), Nagaland (51) and Arunachal Pradesh (57).

However, when one compares by the rate of violent crimes (incidence of violent crimes per a lakh of population), it tells a slightly different story. Technically, “violent crimes” is an umbrella term that includes murder, attempt to commit murder, culpable homicide not amounting to murder, attempt to commit culpable homicide, rape, attempt to commit rape, kidnapping and abduction, dacoits, robbery, riots, dowry, and arson deaths. Assam recorded the highest rate of violent crimes (47.1), to be followed by Arunachal Pradesh (39.9), Haryana (37.5), and Bihar and Odisha (34.7). The lowest rate of violent crimes among states was found in Nagaland (12.7), Gujarat (12.9), Sikkim (13.1), Andhra Pradesh (13.5) and Mizoram (16.8). The national rate among the states is 25.5.

When it comes to the number of cases against Scheduled Castes (SCs) reported in 2015, UP again secured the top spot with 8,358 cases, followed by Rajasthan (6,998), Bihar (6,438), Andhra Pradesh (4,415) and MP (4,188). In terms of the number of reported cases of crimes committed against Scheduled Tribes (STs) during 2015, Rajasthan was the top offender with 3,207 cases. Second place went to MP (1,531), followed by Chhattisgarh (1,518) Odisha (1,387), and Andhra Pradesh (719).

While the national average may have gone down, the data shows spikes in certain areas and categories that are alarming. The number of communal riots came down from 2014, but agrarian riots saw an enormous jump, with as many as 2,683 in 2015. A big chunk of these happened in UP, which aside topping many of the other lists is also gearing up for elections. The number of people arrested for student riots – NCRB is calculated on the basis of First Information Reports – was 3,600, which is almost double of what was recorded in 2014.