Shraddha Walkar murder case: Delhi recorded 454 murder cases in 2021 alone, highest in the country

By: Yash Gupte

Shraddha’s murder highlights the rising number of murder cases in metropolitan cities across India. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), a total of 29,272 cases of murder were registered in the country during 2021

Editor’s Note: Some readers may find the story disturbing. Readers discretion is advised.

The murder of 27 year old Shraddha Walkar in Delhi has sent shockwaves across the nation and has once again highlighted the law and order problem in the National Capital.

Shraddha Walkar was in a live-in relationship with Aftab Amin Poonawalla for more than three years and they had recently moved to Delhi from Mumbai against the will of Shraddha’s parents. According to reports, Shraddha was insisting Aftab to marry her and the couple fought frequently over this reason. Aftab killed Shraddha on May 18, 2022 and chopped her body into 35 pieces and disposed off the body parts in a span of 18 days in different parts of Delhi. The police began investigating after Shraddha’s father filed a missing person complaint after he found Shraddha’s Delhi home locked. The police arrested the accused on November 12, 2022 under section 302 (Murder) and section 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) of the IPC.

Shraddha’s murder highlights the rising number of murder cases in metropolitan cities across India. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), a total of 29,272 cases of murder were registered in the country during 2021, showing a marginal increase of 0.3 percent over 2020 (29,193 cases). In 2021, the conviction rate in murder cases was only 42 percent. There was a decline of around 2 percent in conviction rate as compared to 2020 (44 percent).

*Metropolitan Cities- Cities with more than 2 million population (based on 2011 census)

The total number of murder cases registered in metropolitan cities in 2021 was 1,955 compared to 1,849 cases in 2020. At 454, Delhi reported the highest number of murder cases in 2021, followed by Mumbai (162) and Chennai with 161 murder cases. Among the four major metropolitan cities (Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata), Kolkata reported relatively less number of murder cases compared to other three cities. Kolkata reported 45 cases of murder in 2021. The number was lowest in last five years. While Kolkata reported the lowest number of murder cases in last five years, Ahmedabad recorded maximum cases (97) in 2021 in last five years.

Speaking of motive for murders, 23 such cases in the National Capital Region were reported due to love affairs, the highest in the country, followed by Patna with 21 such cases.  The maximum victims (869) in murder cases in metropolitan cities were from the age group of 18-30 years followed by the age group of 30-45 years. The total number of people murdered in this age group in metropolitan cities was 725. Maximum number (16) of senior citizens (60 years and above) were murdered in Delhi and Ahmedabad in 2021.

As data shows, the murder of the 27-year-old is just the tip of the iceberg. National Capital has the highest crime cases in the country. The fact that the crime remained uncovered and unnoticed for more than six months is far more worrying. The low conviction rate (42 percent) in murder cases shows that in more than half of the cases, the accused are not convicted due to reasons like lack of evidence. This results in failure of delivery of justice. The 1,955 cases of murder reported in the metropolitan cities are just the tip of the iceberg as number of unreported crimes remain high.