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QR Posters in Lucknow Question Women’s Safety Using NCRB Data
Posters have appeared in many busy parts of Lucknow asking whether women are safe in the city.
Each poster has a QR code that opens a document about crimes against women.
The document describes 16 different cases.
These include assaults, harassment, rape and murder.
The posters use official crime information from the National Crime Records Bureau.
In 2024, Lucknow recorded 2,571 cases involving 2,728 victims.
Its crime rate was the second-highest among 19 large Indian cities.
Uttar Pradesh officials say that several kinds of crime decreased across the state in 2024.
No person or group has officially said that it created the posters, and their timing has led to speculation about politics.
Posters placed across Lucknow ask whether women are safe and link to a 16-page document through QR codes.
The document describes 16 cases of crimes against women, including rape, assault, harassment and murder.
NCRB data for 2024 recorded 2,571 cases involving 2,728 victims in Lucknow.
Lucknow’s 2024 crime rate against women was 186.3 cases per lakh women, second-highest among 19 major Indian cities.
While the campaign highlights local crimes, Uttar Pradesh officials cite declines in several statewide crime categories since 2023 and 2017.
- Who
- The posters’ unidentified creators, Lucknow residents and Uttar Pradesh government and police officials are central to the story.
- What
- A QR-code poster campaign is questioning women’s safety in Lucknow using crime cases and National Crime Records Bureau data.
- Where
- The posters appeared in Lucknow, including Hazratganj, Aishbagh, Lalbagh, Hussain Ganj, Chowk and Hussainabad.
- When
- The posters were reported ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election; the cited NCRB data covers 2024 and earlier years.
- Why
- The campaign seeks to raise questions about women’s safety, while its timing has connected it to an emerging political poster campaign.
Campaign’s Safety Concerns
Government’s Law-and-Order Claims
Meaning of crime data
Campaign’s Safety Concerns
The posters use individual cases and Lucknow’s high recorded crime rate to argue that women are not safe in the city.
Government’s Law-and-Order Claims
Government figures focus on registered cases and police action, with officials pointing to declines in several major crime categories across Uttar Pradesh.
Interpretation of Lucknow’s figures
Campaign’s Safety Concerns
The 2024 rate of 186.3 cases per lakh women and the documented cases are presented as evidence of an ongoing safety problem.
Government’s Law-and-Order Claims
Officials emphasize broader statewide trends, including declines in rape, dowry deaths and murders of women in 2024.
Political context
Campaign’s Safety Concerns
The campaign’s timing and message have been viewed in reports as part of a political poster war ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election.
Government’s Law-and-Order Claims
No official confirmation identifies the posters’ creator, so their political sponsorship remains unestablished.
Key facts
- Reported poster locations
- Hazratganj, Aishbagh, Lalbagh, Hussain Ganj, Chowk, Hussainabad and other parts of Lucknow
- Number of reported locations
- More than 100, according to a report
- Document linked by QR code
- A 16-page compilation describing 16 cases involving crimes against women
- Lucknow cases in 2024
- 2,571 cases involving 2,728 victims
- Lucknow crime rate in 2024
- 186.3 cases per lakh women, second-highest among 19 Indian cities with populations above 20 lakh
- 2023 Lucknow data
- 2,902 cases and a reported crime rate of 209.9 per lakh population
- Statewide 2024 changes
- Rape cases fell from 3,516 to 3,209, dowry deaths from 2,122 to 1,047, and murders of women from 702 to 668
Quotes
The anonymous poster campaign
Unknown individuals or organisation responsible for the Lucknow posters
“Women are not safe in Lucknow”
theprint.in
Yogi Adityanath
Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, speaking in the state Assembly in February 2025
“Today, Uttar Pradesh’s law and order has become a benchmark for the country. It has set an example, and everyone is talking about it”
theprint.in
Sources
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