NEW DELHI: India has recorded the highest number of murders in the world, a latest study by a government agency shows, news reports said yesterday.
Data put together by the National Crime Records Bureau, a department of the federal home ministry, showed that the number of murders in India was three times that of Pakistan and double of the US.
There were more than 32,000 incidents of murder recorded in India over 2007-2008, whereas there were only 16,700 murders in the US and about 9,700 in Pakistan, the NDTV network reported.
India is closely followed by South Africa which registered nearly 31,000 incidents of murders.
However, the survey clarified that the rate per population of murder and other crimes in India was much less compared to other countries.
India has the world’s second largest population after China with an estimated 1.13bn people.
The murder and rape rate in India was three and four per 100,000 population respectively, whereas South Africa had rates in the two categories as 65.27 and 115.8 respectively, the Times of India daily said.
The NCRB said the data was compiled in 22 countries which included Australia, Argentina, Austria, Bulgaria, Japan, Canada, Britain, Germany, Malaysia, New Zealand, Thailand and Sri Lanka.
According to the NCRB, the US topped the crime list with 23mn cases including murder, rape, sex and drug offences, while India reported 5mn incidents of crime.
Although the Indian government has taken measures to strengthen the police force in the country, the crime rate has been increasing every year.
The national capital New Delhi registered an increase of 1.08% in murders in 2007 compared to 2006.
In the latest such case, a 78-year-old woman was found murdered in her home when the family was away at a club to watch the final match of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
The incident comes exactly a week after an elderly couple was found murdered in south Delhi’s Niti Bagh area.
The body of Hanslata Maheshwari was found lying in a pool of blood in the bathroom of her upscale Greater Kailash-II home late Sunday when her son Sudhir Maheshwari and daughter-in-law along with their children returned from a nearby club after watching the finals of the IPL. She lived on the ground floor.
Deputy Commissioner of Police H G S Dhaliwal said robbery could be a motive behind the murder. 
“The cupboards had been ransacked. Two rooms on the ground floor and one on the top floor were also ransacked. Initial investigations suggest robbery as motive behind the murder,” Dhaliwal said. – Agencies