No victim, no crime.

A record qualifies when the state has prosecuted, detained, fined or convicted a person for an act with no complaining victim in the source — under the statutes named in the categories above or an equivalent state law. Cases that also allege violence, cheating, force, a minor, cruelty to animals, or a spurious or poisonous product are left out. Each record says what the court or authority actually did — convicted, detained, refused bail, or quashed the case — and presumes nothing beyond it. Where the source is silent on age, consent or harm, the record says so; this register’s view that an act is victimless is its own argument, not the court’s finding.

Every record links its sources. V2 means an official record — a court judgment or order, a gazette, or a government or agency release — has been read and the record checked against it; quotes are copied verbatim. Only V2 records are published. A record that rests on news reports alone (V1) is held back until an official record is found. Each record also says what it could not confirm.

Names of private individuals are withheld unless a naming gate clears them; officials acting in office and judges are named. Coverage is being built state by state, starting with Andhra Pradesh and the most recent cases, one record per category first. A record is a documented instance, not an estimate of how often this happens. To correct a record, write to contact@copwatchindia.org with the official document. The method follows Babuwatch: record, attribute, correct.