In India, there are 2.82 lakh undertrials who have been arrested for committing various crimes. (Representational image)
Maharashtra, India’s most industrialised and fastest urbanising state, may have a relatively low crime rate but it has one of the highest proportional share of individuals over 50 years of age who have been arrested and are facing the law for committing a crime. While there is no publicly available data on the charges under which these older men have been arrested, criminologists and police officers claim that an increasing number of undertrials aged 50 or more reflect the rising cases of white collar crimes in the country.
In India, there are 2.82 lakh undertrials who have been arrested for committing various crimes. Of them, 31,229 or 11.07 per cent are individuals over 50 years of age. Among the states in the country, Maharashtra has the highest proportional share of undertrials over 50 years, according to state police data.
Of its 21,667 undertrials, 14.50 per cent , which is 3,142, are over the age of 50. In 2000, the proportional share of undertrials over 50 years was higher for India at 14.7 per cent compared to Maharashtra that had 13.4 per cent. While the national average has dipped between 2000 and 2015, it has gone up in the case of Maharashtra for the same period.
“There have been rising instances of white collar crimes in the country. These economic or property crimes require a degree of sophistication and expertise, which is gained with age. This could be one of the main reasons why the number of 50-plus undertrials has increased,” a criminologist from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences said.
In the 18 to 30 years age group, there has been a substantial decline in crime rate in Maharashtra compared to 2000 till 2010. In 2000, those between 18 and 30 years of age made up 48.4 per cent of the total undertrials. By 2001, the number steadily dropped to 43.2 per cent. But over the past few years, the numbers have been rising.
“Between 2000 and 2010, there was a boom in the Indian economy. There is a chance that due to increasing job opportunities and wealth creation, those between 18 and 30 years of age would have turned their backs to a life of criminal activities. However, any slowdown in growth (seen for post 2010) leads to a spike in criminal activities, particularly among the younger sections,” a former IPS officer said.
