Meanwhile, Telangana capital Hyderabad topped the list for crimes against ST individuals, also for the seventh time in a row.
Bengaluru is the most atrocity-prone city for people from SCs and STs in the South Indian states, according to NCRB data. (Creative Commons)
Karnataka capital Bengaluru and its Telangana counterpart Hyderabad have achieved two quite ignominious feats for the seventh year in a row, according to the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report.
The NCRB’s Crimes in India-2021 report put Bengaluru and Hyderabad on top of the list of metropolitan cities with the most number of cases of atrocities reported against people from scheduled castes (SCs) and scheduled tribes (STs), respectively.
The two cities appear to have continued this unenviable trend from the time the NCRB began publishing the list for such crimes reported in metropolitan cities — those with more than 20 lakh population — in 2015.
Worse for Bengaluru, it topped the list in South India for the combined number of crimes against SC and ST individuals for all seven years.
According to the latest report, Bengaluru is fourth among the 19 metropolitan cities for crimes against SC and ST individuals.
Jaipur (Rajasthan), Ahmedabad (Gujarat), and Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) are ahead of Bengaluru, after which is Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh).
Out of the 19 cities in the 2021 report, nearly one-third are from South India, with Hyderabad following Bengaluru in the number of overall cases of atrocities against people from SCs and STs.
The nature of the atrocities includes abduction, robbery, murder, grievous injury including acid attacks, property issues, and violence against women and children including rape, assault, harassment, voyeurism, and stalking.
In Bengaluru, cases of atrocities against people from SCs numbered 133 in 2020, but rose to 166 in 2021. In comparison, there was a marginal decline in the cases of violence against people from STs — from 12 cases in 2021 to 13 cases in 2020.
Noted sociologist R Indira explained to South First the existing caste gaps in Bengaluru. She said Bengaluru may be hyped as Silicon City and an IT hub, but the economic prosperity due to that is experienced by only a certain section of people.
“The more the inequality, the more the gap between the rich and poor, and the more the exploitation,” she said.
Indira added that most Dalits are employed in informal-sector jobs — like daily wagers, domestic help, or sanitation workers — that makes them vulnerable to atrocities, and that is especially true for Dalit women.
“The representation of SC and ST community people is also low in the public and private sector, which increases the chances of atrocities,” she said.
Citing an example of how discrimination in the city still exists, independent Bangalore-based human rights activist T Narsimhamurthy told South First: “While renting a house, a person belonging to a schedule caste can’t publicly declare his or her caste, as the owner would straightforwardly deny. That’s the situation in Bengaluru.”
Hyderabad was right behind Bengaluru as the second-most atrocity-prone metropolitan city in South India for the second year in a row.
The number of atrocity cases against the STs went from 26 in 2020 to 28 in 2021, taking it ahead of Bengaluru on that head.
However, the number of cases against the SC community went down from 127 in 2020 to 104 in 2021.
Attributing education as not the only tool to change the mindset of people in urban areas, Indira pointed out: “Caste is so deeply embedded in society and people that their attitude does not change automatically. Caste also decides the intertwined concept of social, economical, and political power in society.”
As per the report, Kozhikode and Kochi from Kerala, and Chennai and Coimbatore from Tamil Nadu were the other South Indian cities where caste atrocities against SC and ST communities were rampant.
Right after Hyderabad was Kozhikode with 31 atrocity cases against SCs and one against STs in 2021.
Rekha Raj, a professor at the Mahatama Gandhi University in Kottayam, told South First, “Caste is a reality in Kerala. When a case is filed, there is a tendency of the police to steer it away from the SC/ST Act to show no caste discrimination happening, as the idea to show Kerala as a progressive society prevails. The practice of caste in public spaces is increasing in indirect ways, and so is the reporting as the Dalit consciousness rises.”
Pointing out another bias in urban areas, she said when a crime is reported, the cops mostly arrest lower-caste people, who are slum-dwellers. “The tendency is to equate violence with the lower-caste people as there is a stereotypical image of a habitual offender, and that is always a Dalit person.”
Both Chennai and Coimbatore — with no cases against STs in 2021 — were next on the list with 23 and 18 cases against SCs, respectively.
The NCRB report positioned Kochi as the last South Indian city on the list, with 13 cases registered against SCs and two against STs.
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