EDITORIAL: A press report, based on official figures for 2024, presents a disturbing picture of violent crimes that took place during that time. A total of 11,074 cases of murder, 2,142 of gang rape, 4,472 of rape, and 34,688 of kidnapping/abduction happened countrywide.
A general impression created by nightly news of violent street crimes in Karachi suggests Sindh had the highest rate of murders. That though turns out to be a deceptive notion.
Punjab reported the largest number of homicides (4,908), followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (3, 444) – it is unclear if this figure includes civilians, especially police personnel, killed in terrorist attacks – whereas Sindh reported 1,826 murders, Balochistan 528, Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) 122 and the AJK 75.
In all other types of crime as well Punjab has been far ahead of other provinces, GB, and AJK. Of 2,142 reported cases of gang rape countywide, 2,046 happened in Punjab, 71 in Sindh, one in KP, and zilch in Balochistan.
The last two, though, registered 402 and 125 cases of rape. Also way too high have been incidents of kidnapping/ abduction in Punjab both in comparative terms as well as in sheer numbers. These are pretty nasty statistics for Punjab. Some of this may be explainable by the fact that it has more population than all the other provinces put together.
Another may be that since it is a lot more urbanised than the other provinces that makes it easier for criminal elements to act with anonymity without fear of being recognised and getting punished.
But neither condition necessarily leads to what has been going on here. Land disputes related murders and rape of women belonging to landless and hence powerless peasant families also amplify crime statistics for Punjab.
Things in other parts of the county though are not very different. Until a few years ago, Islamabad used to be the country’s safest city for women, but not anymore. A particularly baffling fact is that the reported cases of gang rape in the federal capital territory of Islamabad, during 2024, were more than those reported in KP, Balochistan and GB.
Then there is a range of crimes, including rape, murder, kidnapping burglary, and carjacking confront residents and/or visitors, largely because the law enforcement agencies are focused on doing protocol duties for government functionaries rather than fighting criminal elements.
This should worry the government. Over all, law and order being a provincial subject, authorities in the provinces need to address the factors that contribute to increase in crime rates, and ensure the police have the necessary ability as well as integrity to do their job.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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