Conviction rates for murder abysmal

NEW DELHI: There have been nearly 1.27 lakh murders between 2005 and 2009 in the country. Yet, just 44,601 people have been convicted for them in the last five years.

At 36.2%, the average conviction rate has been poor. The statewise data became public after an RTI application by Dev Ashish Bhattacharya to the Union home ministry on March 31.

The best performance came from Mizoram with conviction rates ranging from 91.9% to 100% between 2006 and 2009. This was an improvement over 2005, where the rate was 75%. Jammu & Kashmir was at the bottom with the conviction rate falling to 7.2% in 2006 from 22.4% in 2008.