Bogota’s homicide rate was up 5.4% in the first two months of this year, compared to the same period in 2009, according to data released by Colombia’s national forensics agency, Medicina Legal.
There were 239 murders in Colombia’s capital city between January 1 and February 28 2009, compared with 252 over the same 2010 period.
January 2010 registered a 22.2% increase in homicides compared to the same month in 2009, with 132 murders in January 2010, up from 108 in 2009.
February figures dropped by 8.3%, with 120 in 2010, compared to 131 in 2009.
Eighty-three of January’s murders were committed with a firearm, while in February the figure was 68.
Of the total murders, 85 were stabbings, four were strangulations and one was carried out by explosives.
The figures also revealed that men are principally affected by homicide. Of the 252 murder victims, 230 were men.
In January 2010, the age group most affected by homicide was those between 20 and 29 years old, with 49 murders. In February those aged between 0 and 19 were most affected, with 48 cases.
