National 7 (Spotlight Weekly)

Unemployment And Alienation

The dark side of urbanization poses a stiff challenge to law-enforcement agencies

By NIRAJ POUDYAL

Amid rapid urbanization, Nepalis have become used to news of criminal activities in major cities. Each day at least a few crime stories are carried by the leading dailies. Pick-pocketing and thievery have virtually become routine. News of murder, rape and robbery, too, have ceased to shock many of us.

This has intensified the challenges faced by law-enforcement agencies. To simplify investigation procedures, crimes have been classified into three groups: heinous crimes, thievery and robbery, and social crimes. Murder and rape come under heinous crime, while pick-pocketing and prostitution are grouped under social crime.

District police office : Dealing with rising crimes

Statistics show that thievery and robbery are the most common criminal activities in Nepalese cities. These deeds can easily spread a sense of insecurity in the public. Some 346 cases of thievery were registered in Kathmandu last year. About 30 cases of murder were recorded during the same period. Pick-pocketing and other minor crimes are innumerable.

"But one satisfactory aspect of city crime in Nepal is that organized crime and crimes related to international criminal organizations are rare," says Mohan Bikram Shaha, deputy of superintendent of police. "One thing that embarrasses us is that almost all of the crimes are found to be related with property and wealth, whether it is murder or theft."

Shaha's conclusion shows that criminal activities in the cities are related with unemployment and the compulsion to fulfill the basic needs and, sometimes, evil desires of criminals. The fact that most of the crimes are related to the thievery of gold, silver, computers, pashminas also supports Shaha's view. Nepal's cities, moreover, are not immune to the global trend where diminishing economic opportunities, exodus from rural areas and an overall sense of insecurity and uncertainty provide fertile ground for criminal activities.

There are two sides of the problem: prevention of criminal activities and investigation after they have occurred. Rising unemployment, frustration among students who fail their examinations and the proliferation of street children seem to be the major factors behind the surge in urban crime in the kingdom. "If we solve the problem of street children and growing unemployment in the cities, we can stop crime by many folds," says Shaha. "Many criminals in Kathmandu were once street children. We should focus our efforts on youngsters because the data shows that most of the criminals are aged between 19 and 25."

The inability to develop jails as correction centers is responsible for the failure to discourage repeat offenders. The social and family environment is equally responsible for encouraging youths to become criminals.

"On the investigation side, we are far more successful than other countries in the region relative to our limited resources," says Shaha. "The average time taken to capture suspects in Nepal is between 3-4 months and 4-5 years. If we analyze past data, we have successfully completed more than 50 percent of the cases, while the remaining are under investigation."

An efficient police force and firm legal measures alone do not provide a way out of this dilemma. Records show that most of the cases of thievery take place at night. Public support and awareness of basic preventive efforts are equally vital to the fight against crime.

"People should come together and recruit a watchman for a group of houses," suggests Shaha. Moreover, it has been found that most criminals use iron rods to break door locks. Therefore, emphasis has to be given to building safe entrances. "While constructing a house, the designers should be careful not to include needless access because it would only help thieves," Shaha advises. "People should not leave their homes unoccupied for long hours." Ultimately, like most social enterprises, it is the responsibility of every community member to rid the city of crime.