Rajasthan: Police cite ‘free FIR registration’, ‘false cases’ as reasons for high rape figures in state

“It is being circulated that Rajasthan is number one in the country in terms of rape cases. Firstly, the state government in Rajasthan has a policy of free (case) registration. Whenever any report of cognizable offence comes to the police station, we register it as FIR. In the initial stage, we don’t filter whether the case is correct or false and register all cases,” Rajasthan Additional Director General (ADG) of Police (Crime) Ravi Prakash Meharda said Thursday in a statement to the media.

Meharda added that in 48 per cent of the cases pertaining to the rape of women above 18 years of age, a final report has been submitted by the police after investigation. Notably, a final report is submitted by the police when after investigation no case is made out or the case turns out to be false, wherein a chargesheet cannot be filed against the accused.

“In Rajasthan, when it comes to rape cases, in 48 per cent of the cases, an FR (final report) has been filed. These are cases of rape pertaining to women above 18 years of age. What is more important is that when it comes to minor girls, wherein cases are registered under rape and POCSO Act, in these cases Rajasthan ranks 12 in the country. We will improve this further. This means that the situation is different from what is being circulated,” said Meharda.

“The cases may appear high in terms of figures but we have to take into consideration the FR and disposal percentages. In disposal, pendency and conviction, Rajasthan performs well,” added Meharda.

After the recent NCRB report highlighted Rajasthan’s poor performance in cases of women atrocities, the opposition BJP had slammed the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government in the state, saying that a complete collapse of the law and order system has taken place under the current regime.

In the past few years, while NCRB data have shown an increase in crime figures, the state government has maintained that the spike is because of its policy of compulsorily registering every complaint as FIR.