ACCORDING TO THE CLASSIFICATION OF THE CURRENT INDIAN PENAL CODE, MURDER, DACOITY (A LOCAL VERSION OF BANDITRY), ROBBERY, BREAKING-AND-ENTERING, AND THEFT ARE SERIOUS OFFENSES. WITH THE CAVEAT THAT CRIME STATISTICS ARE INADEQUATE IN INDIA (AS EVERYWHERE ELSE), THIS REPORT QUANTIFIES THE CRIME SITUATION IN AN INDIAN RURAL COMMUNITY, BASED ON THE DATA COLLECTED BY THE LOCAL STATE POLICE SINCE 1950. THESE STATISTICS INDICATE A STEADY INCREASE IN THE INCIDENCE OF SERIOUS CRIME (E.G., 103 PERCENT BETWEEN 1959 AND 1976), WITH BURGLARY BEING THE MOST COMMON OFFENSE. STATISTICAL TABLES GIVE THE MUMBERS OF SERIOUS CRIMES COMMITTED IN THE LAST 30 YEARS, CLASSIFIED BY VARIOUS GEOGRAPHIC SUBDIVISIONS. MURDER IN KARNATAKA IS QUANTIFIED BY VARIOUS DESCRIPTIVE VARIABLES: MOTIVE (THE LARGEST NUMBERS BEING SEX-RELATED, FOLLOWED BY PERSONAL VENDETTAS, PROPERTY DISPUTES, FINANCIAL GAIN, AND INSANITY AS MURDER CAUSES). THE UNAVOIDABLE SUPERFICIALITY OF THIS MOTIVATION ASSESSMENT IS EMPHASIZED, WITH THE REMARK THAT IT DOES NOT REFLECT THE DEEPER, HIDDEN REASONS, INCLUDING THE PUBLIC PERCEPTION OF HUMAN LIFE AS A CHEAP COMMODITY IN AN INCREASINGLY OVERPOPULATED AND IMPOVERISHED COUNTRY. WITHIN THE SPECIFIC TIME-AND-PLACE CONTEXT OF THIS STUDY, THE PROFILE OF THE TYPICAL MURDERER EMERGING FROM STATISTICAL DATA INDICATE THAT THE MURDERER USUALLY IS MALE (95 PERCENT), AGED 21 TO 40, AND LIKELY TO KILL AT NIGHT, COVER OF DARKNESS AND IN A LONELY SPOT (E.G., IN THE FIELDS). HE USES A SHARP, POINTED INSTRUMENT (SWORD, AXE, SICKLE) AS MURDER WEAPON AND ATTACKS YOUNG WOMEN PRIMARILY, ALTHOUGH MALES IN THE 31 TO 45 AGE GROUP ARE ALSO COMMON VICTIMS. IN RURAL COMMUNITIES, THE MAJORITY OF BOTH PERPETRATORS AND VICTIMS ARE FARMERS OR FARM LABORERS. AMONG THE ETIOLOGICAL CAUSES OF MURDER ARE POVERTY, IGNORANCE, A HOT CLIMATE, SPICY FOOD, CASTE (OR, RATHER, SUBCASTE) CONSCIOUSNESS, FAMILY FEUDING, LIQUOR, PERCEIVED CHEAPNESS OF LIFE, AND POLITICS. STATISTICAL TABLES ARE PROVIDED BOTH IN THE TEXT AND IN APPENDIXES. (LGR)