DOSM: Kelantan Is Second Safest State, Just After Sabah

Malaysians don’t seem to think so.

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The east coast state of Kelantan has been ranked the second safest state with its low crime index, just after Sabah over in east Malaysia.

Deputy Menteri Besar Datuk Mohamed Fadzli Hassan said the ranking is based on crime index rates by the Department of Statistics (DOSM), as reported by Malay Mail.

“The report was issued based on the crime index rate, which includes murder, assault, property theft, and robbery.

“Kelantan recorded the second-lowest crime index with a score of 96 per 100,000 population, making it the second safest state in the country after Sabah, which scored 95 per 10,000 population,” he said.

The numbers are based on the Crime Statistics report published on 16 October, 2024, which covers the statistics in 2022 and 2023.

Malaysians think the numbers could be higher

Many believe that there are unreported crimes in Kelantan, especially sexual and drug-related crimes. Because of this, Malaysians speculate the number of crimes might be higher than what was reported by DOSM.

In early April this year, Kelantan authorities reported increasing rape and incest cases in the state every year. The number of cases in 2024 rose 15.6 percent from 2023. And remember, these are only reported cases.

Kuala Lumpur recorded the highest overall crime rating

According to DOSM’s 2024 crime statistics, the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya recorded the highest crime index in 2023 at 221 (per 100,000) population. This is followed by Selangor (196), then Pulau Pinang and Kedah (193).

The report encompasses nine selected crime statistics from 2021 to 2023, namely crime index (assault and property crimes), violence and sexual crimes, drugs, corruption, environment compliance, traffic offences, commercial crimes, maritime crimes, and correctional.

For commercial crime cases, fraud tops the list at 36,936 cases in 2023, a 32.1 percent increase from 27,967 in 2022.

Physical sexual assault on a child is the number one offence in sexual crimes involving children with 1,147 cases in 2022, which rose to 1,389 cases in 2023.

Looking at corruption, the number of investigation papers opened by the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) recorded an increase of 25.1 percent in 2023 to 1,026 cases, as compared to 820 cases in the previous year.

The number of online crime cases went up by 35.5 percent in 2023 (34,532 cases) when compared to 2022 (25,479 cases). E-commerce crime was the highest contributor to online crime in 2023.

To see the full 2024 crime statistics report by DOSM, click HERE.

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