Thursday, Jan 12, 2017

Muscat: The rate of crimes in the Sultanate of Oman stood at four crimes per thousand people with the crime frequency standing at one crime committed every 28 minutes, according to a recent bulletin issued by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).

The number of crimes reported in Oman stood at 18,860 in 2015, compared to 22,624 in 2014, a decline of 17 per cent.

The number of offenders dropped 1.3 per cent to about 26,655, compared with 27,012 in 2014.

As for perpetrators, six out of every thousand people were reported to be offenders. Among the offenders, violators of laws and regulations stood first forming 25.9 per cent of the total offenders. Three-quarters of the offenders were found to have committed the crime of illegally entering the country.

The percentage of offenders involved in financial wrongdoings stood at 20.7 per cent of the total perpetrators, and the crimes included theft, arson, fraud and money laundering, among others.

The number of offenders who committed crimes against individuals accounted for 19.1 per cent of the total perpetrators, and the crimes included abuses and insults, threats, destruction of public property, murder, human trafficking and abortion.

As many as 18.2 per cent of the total offenders were involved in drug offences.

The perpetrators of alcohol and related offences accounted for 3.4 per cent of the total perpetrators. Offenders who violated public decency and ethics (including prostitution, assaults, public gambling, adultery and inciting sodomy and debauchery) constituted 2.6 per cent of the total perpetrators.

The lowest percentage of offenders committed crimes in violation of the arms and ammunition act at 0.7 per cent.

Offenders aged nine to 17 years accounted for 3.3 per cent of the total offenders, and 49 per cent of the juvenile offenders were involved in financial crimes. Young (18 to 29 years of age) offenders constituted 43 per cent of the total number offenders.

By Fahad Al Mukrashi Correspondent

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