73pc crimes went unreported in 2018

Seventy-three percent victims of various crimes committed in 2018 never reported those to cops, reveals a survey commissioned by Bangladesh Police.

The major reasons behind such a grim finding include difficulties in filing  cases; hassles of calling police and appearing before courts; expenses for police and legal services, and police's reluctance to cooperate.

The survey, first of its kind in Bangladesh, was carried out on 1,246 respondents from 70 wards of all 12 city corporations and Bogura and Tangail municipalities.

About 83 percent victims think police should be held accountable for their actions, while 85 percent said police have to be free from political bias.

A team of researchers, led by Md Omar Faruk, professor of criminology and police science at Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University, conducted the survey titled "Crime Victimisation Survey in Selected Urban Areas of Bangladesh". The study results were submitted to the Police Headquarters early this month.

The other reasons behind such a high percentage of unreported crimes are victims considering the crimes insignificant and not worth reporting; police's bias towards offenders and inefficiency in nabbing the lawbreakers; and people's lack of trust in the criminal justice system, the study said.

Out of the total 1,246 respondents, 1,100 came up with a rough calculation about the cost of crime. The average cost of a crime was over Tk 3.35 lakh. The total cost of crimes for the 1,100 respondents was about Tk 36.93 crore.

These are calculated in terms of property loss, medical cost, legal service fees, income loss, productivity loss, relocation cost, and any other cost incurred by the victims.

According to the study, 55 percent victims were not satisfied at all with police support. However, 26 percent were moderately satisfied while only 16 percent satisfied.

As a reason for non-satisfaction, 47 percent shared that police didn't do enough to solve the case and 13 percent thought police were not interested in solving the case at all.

These figures show how the police have become detached from the people and the lack of people's trust in police, the lead investigator of the survey, Omar Faruk, told The Daily Star.

He said that in the modern responsive policing system, public confidence in the law enforcers  is considered a key factor in properly measuring the cops' performance.

The researcher said the survey attempts to address a gap between the yearly crime statistics prepared by the police based on their registered crime books, court orders and unreported crimes.

Eighty-one percent of the respondents said police's cooperation with them would be highly appreciated, while 67 percent said police should be more humane and 91 percent opined that police need to be free from corruption to boost their image.

The victims said police should ensure public security to enhance their image and they should also stop committing brutality against anyone.

They also mentioned that police's accountability to its higher authorities should be ensured.

Seven out of each 10 people studied agreed to the statement that the news of torture in custody causes fear among victims.

The study said almost all victims agreed with the statement that the lengthy process of the criminal justice system contributes to reluctance to seek justice.

Also, more than 50 percent victims think the offenders live in and around their neighbourhoods.

Surprisingly, about 10 percent of the offenders were either the victims' relatives or family members.

The survey revealed that Dhaka North city has the highest victimisation rates followed by Chattogram. It also stated that most of the crimes occurred between noon and 9:00pm.

According to the study, the nearest police station was about 3.3 km away, on average, from the spots where the crimes were committed.

Asked about the findings of the survey, Maruf Hossain Sorder, additional deputy inspector general of police (planning and research) at the Police Headquarters, said he was not aware of the study as he was new to the office.

He said he would be able to comment on the report after going through it.