Centre says no specific data on lynching

The government does not maintain specific data on lynching incidents in the country, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Wednesday.

Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Hansraj Ahir said the state governments were competent to deal with such offences under the existing laws.

"The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) does not maintain specific data with respect to lynching incidents in the country.

"The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has, however, issued advisory to the states and Union territories from time to time to maintain law and order and ensure that any person who takes law into his/her own hand is punished promptly as per (the) law," he said, while replying to a written question.

The minister's response comes a day after the Supreme Court had asked Parliament to consider enacting a new law to effectively deal with incidents of mob lynching and cow vigilantism, saying "horrendous acts of mobocracy" cannot be allowed to become a new norm.

While no official government data exists, there have been attempts at creating a national database on hate crimes by some news organizations. Hindustan Times had launched a hate tracker initiative but removed it in October of last year.

IndiaSpend, a website that focusses on data-driven journalism has also launched a national database on cow-related violence that can be accessed here.