Thoothukudi teen murder fuels row over TN’s ‘improving’ crime stats

While Tamil Nadu’s Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government has asserted that the overall crime rate in the state has declined, a tragic case involving the murder of a 17-year-old girl in Thoothukudi has triggered fresh questions about how the rates are registered and recorded.

The teenager’s parents were reportedly forced to run from one police station to another to lodge a complaint after she went missing on Tuesday night (March 10). Social activists say that if complaints are not promptly registered, official crime statistics may appear cleaner than reality.

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The victim’s relatives claimed before media persons that the parents had approached three different police stations, but their complaint was not registered, and the officials did not treat them with dignity.

The case was formally recorded only after the girl’s family approached G Markandeyan, the DMK MLA from Vilathikulam under Thoothukudi Lok Sabha constituency, and sought help to register the case.

However, the ill-fated family could not be reunited as the girl’s bruised body was recovered from a scrubland area near their home near Kulathur village in the district on the evening of Wednesday, March 11, triggering outrage in the area.

Govt's defence of state crime situation

Ironically, it was a day after the girl’s body was found that G Venkataraman, Tamil Nadu’s DGP (director general of police), held an exclusive press briefing to “decode the myth” that crime was increasing in the state. He said the meeting was arranged because recent months had seen news reports claiming the crime rate was increasing in the state and that “the truth is different”.

During the press interaction, the DGP stated that major crimes had declined over the past five years. “Over the last five years, major crimes such as murder, murder for robbery and similar serious offences have shown a marginal decline. At the same time, the police department believes that every crime, whether small or large, must be treated seriously and investigated thoroughly. We actively encourage people to report crimes without hesitation,” he said.

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He also emphasised that the police encourage the registration of complaints rather than treating them merely as petitions or ignoring them. The focus, he added, was on registering cases and ensuring proper investigation.

Dheeraj Kumar, the state home secretary, who was also present at the meeting, echoed the same, saying that crime rates in Tamil Nadu have declined substantially in the last five years.

“The number of crimes — murders, murder for gain, robbery, and sexual assault cases — reported in the last five years has substantially declined. The number of murder cases declined to 1,461 in 2025, as against 1,597 in 2021. Similarly, the rape cases declined to 401 in 2025 from 422 in 2021,” Kumar said while speaking on the prevailing law and order situation in the southern state.

Thoothukudi case questions 'improved' state of affairs

The Thoothukudi tragedy has, however, reignited a larger debate on whether falling crime numbers in official records reflect improved law enforcement or gaps in how complaints are registered and documented.

While the DGP said the police encouraged the registration of complaints, it was seen that the state’s home department (which controls police) suspended an inspector attached to an all-women police station over the alleged delay in registering the complaint related to the Thoothukudi case.

The suspension, however, did little to calm public anger. Tensions escalated when political leaders visiting the family were asked to leave the premises, as relatives staged protests demanding that the earlier petition be formally registered as a criminal case.

Politicians barred

As Tamil Nadu gears up for elections, it was not surprising to see politicians queuing up before the girl’s home to offer condolences. Among them were Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, the DMK MP from Thoothukudi MP and a senior leader of the party, and Aadhav Arjuna of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), which is set to make its electoral debut in the upcoming polls.

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But the victim’s kin were not impressed. M Vimala, a relative of the deceased girl, told The Federal that she and others had stopped politicians from entering their village.

“When we had to go to an MLA even to register a complaint, then what is the need for police stations and officers? If they had swiftly registered and investigated the case, the girl would have been saved. At least the criminals would have been caught,” she said.

Meanwhile, the opposition All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK)-led National Democratic Alliance has announced a statewide protest on March 17, accusing the DMK government of failing to maintain law and order.

Speaking to reporters, I S Inbadurai, an AIADMK Rajya Sabha MP, alleged that incidents resembling the 2012 Nirbhaya case were becoming frequent in the state.

“Women are not safe. In the past 10 days alone, three such incidents have taken place involving a two-and-a-half-year-old child, a 14-year-old girl and another girl in Thoothukudi. In the Thoothukudi case, police did not register the complaint until people protested,” he said.

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During Thursday’s press meet, the DGP also claimed that the conviction rate in cases registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) was higher than that in murder cases in Tamil Nadu. However, officials did not present detailed year-wise statistics to substantiate the claim.

According to him, improved policing, enhanced surveillance and stricter monitoring of offenders had contributed to the decline in several categories of crime in recent years.

Legal experts not assured

But legal experts are not convinced. They have raised concerns about the state government’s interpretation of crime statistics. Advocate Pugalendhi from Chennai said the statement released by the state’s home department looked like a DMK-propaganda statement.

“There is no clear year-wise breakdown or classification of crimes in the data released by the government. The statement reads more like a political narrative than a statistical analysis,” he told The Federal. He also questioned the claim of declining crime by pointing to rising population in prisons.

According to him, the Puzhal Central Prison in Chennai had around 1,500 inmates in 2021, but the number had risen to about 4,000 in 2026. “If crime has really declined, why are prisons witnessing a surge in inmates?” he asked, adding that the state government has also planned to build a larger prison facility in the state’s Madurai district.

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Pugalendhi also questioned why the authorities did not release figures of conviction in cases such as rape, custodial deaths and other sections. “When they release only specific data, we cannot believe the picture they paint,” he said.

Human rights lawyer Henry Tiphagne said the state’s M K Stalin government had been dismissing criticism over issues such as gang rapes, custodial deaths and suicides among police personnel.

Tiphagne, an advocate who is appearing in a case related to the alleged custodial death of a youth named R Akash in Sivaganga district in southern Tamil Nadu, alleged that several sensitive statistics were not being transparently disclosed.

“Officials have conveniently hidden the number of encounters, custodial deaths and gang rapes in public spaces. Without presenting clear and comprehensive data, how can the government claim that crime has reduced over the last five years?” he asked.