Crime Report in India, 2022

08.12.2023

Crime Report in India, 2022 , Daily Current Affairs , RACE IAS : Best IAS Coaching in Lucknow 

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On December 3, 2023, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) released its annual report on crime in India for the year 2022.

Important points:

• The largest increase in crimes was seen in crimes against foreigners, which increased by 28% compared to 2021.
• According to the NCRB report, there was a 9% increase in crimes registered against the elderly in the country in 2022 compared to 2021, while there was a 13% increase in crimes against SCs and 14% increase against STs.

About the report:

• The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) released its annual report on crime in India for the year 2022.
• The report is a compilation of crime statistics reported from across the country, and provides the big picture of broader trends in crime registration.
• The report is a compilation of crime data reported from across the country, obtained from police forces of 36 states and union territories.
• The information is recorded by the State/UT Police at the local police station level, and validated at the District and State levels and finally by the NCRB.
• Kolkata has been recognized as the safest city in India for the third consecutive year, recording the lowest number of cognizable crimes per lakh population compared to other major cities in India.
• According to the report, Pune in Maharashtra and Hyderabad in Telangana are also safe cities.

Key findings of the report:

Decline in registration of cases:

• In 2022, a total of 58,24,946 cognizable crimes were registered, which included 35,61,379 Indian Penal Code (IPC) crimes and 22,63,567 special and local law (SLL) crimes.
• Registration of cases sees 4.5% decline compared to 2021
• Crime recorded per lakh population has declined from 445.9 in 2021 to 422.2 in 2022.
• According to this report, Maharashtra stood second after Uttar Pradesh in registering criminal cases under sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Increase in crimes against women:

• Every hour 51 cases of crime against women are registered in India.
• 4,45,256 cases of crimes against women (equivalent to approximately 51 FIRs every hour) were registered in 2022. This was an increase of 4% compared to 2021.
• According to the data, the crime rate recorded per lakh female population was 66.4 in 2022 compared to 64.5 in 2021.
• Delhi had the highest crime rate, surpassing the national average, and Uttar Pradesh reported the highest number of cases.
• This was followed by Maharashtra (45,331), Rajasthan (45,058), West Bengal (34,738), and Madhya Pradesh (32,765).
• The largest share of crimes against women under IPC sections were registered under the following:
  • Cruelty by husband or his relatives (31.4%),
  • kidnapping and abduction of women (19.2%), and
  • Attacks on women with the intention of outraging their modesty (18.7%).
  • Rape 7.1 percent

Increase in Cyber Crime:

• Telangana continues to top the cyber crime charts in India for the second consecutive year, with a three-fold increase in cyber crime cases between 2020 and 2022.
• Cyber crime reporting increased by 24.4 percentage points to 65,893 cases compared to 2021.
• About 64.8% of the registered cases were of fraud, followed by extortion (5.5%), and sexual exploitation (5.2%).
• The crime rate (per lakh population) under this category has increased from 3.9 to 4.8 in 2021.

Increase in suicide cases:

• An increase of 4.2% was observed in suicides reported during 2022 compared to 2021 (1,70,924 suicides).
• Family problems (other than marital problems) (31.7%), marital problems (4.8%) and illness (18.4%) together accounted for 54.9% of the total suicides in the country during 2022.
• The overall male-to-female ratio of suicide victims was 71.8:28.2.

Slight decline in murder cases:

• According to the latest NCRB data, a total of 28,522 FIRs of murder were registered in 2022.
• This amounts to an average of 78 murders every day, or more than three every hour, down from 29,272 in 2021 and 29,193 in 2020.
•  The motive for the highest number of murders in 2022 was "dispute" in 9,962 cases, followed by "personal vendetta or enmity" in 3,761 cases and "profit" in 1,884 cases.
• According to the NCRB, the murder rate per lakh population across the country was 2.1, while the rate of filing of charge sheets in such cases was 81.5.
• Uttar Pradesh saw the highest number of such FIRs at 3,491 in 2022, followed by Bihar (2,930), Maharashtra (2,295), Madhya Pradesh (1,978), and Rajasthan (1,834), with the top five states together accounting for 43.92 per cent of the total.
• The top five states with the lowest number of murder cases in 2022 were Sikkim (9), Nagaland (21), Mizoram (31), Goa (44), and Manipur (47).
• Among Union Territories, Delhi recorded 509 murder cases in 2022, followed by Jammu and Kashmir (99), Puducherry (30), Chandigarh (18), Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (16), Andaman and Nicobar Islands are (7). ), Ladakh (5), and Lakshadweep (zero).
• Across India in 2022, the murder rate was highest in Jharkhand (4), followed by Arunachal Pradesh (3.6), Chhattisgarh and Haryana (both 3.4), Assam and Odisha (both 3).

Economic Offenses Cases:

• According to NCRB data, a total of 1,93,385 cases were registered under economic offences, showing an increase of 11.1 per cent compared to 1,74,013 cases in 2021.

Crimes against SC/ST:

• 57,582 cases were registered in the year 2022 for crimes against SC, an increase of 13.1 per cent compared to 50,900 cases in 2021.
• A total of 10,064 cases were registered in 2022 for crimes against STs compared to last year, showing an increase of 14.3 percent compared to 8,802 in 2021.

Crimes against senior citizens:

• Crime cases against senior citizens increased to 28,545 in the year 2022 compared to 26,110 last year.
• This shows an increase of 9.3 percent.

Crimes against children:

• Cases of crimes against children saw an increase of 8.7% compared to 2021.
• Most of these cases were related to kidnapping (45.7%) and 39.7% were registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act.

Increase in animal attacks:

• A significant increase of 19% was recorded in such incidents in 2022 compared to 2021.
• Maharashtra reported the highest number of cases, followed by Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh in varying numbers.
• The number of cases of animal/reptile and insect bites also increased by 16.7%.
• The highest number of bite cases were reported from Rajasthan, followed by Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh respectively.

Crimes against foreigners:

• A total of 192 crimes against foreigners (tourists and residents) were reported in the year 2022 compared to 150 cases in the year 2021, showing an increase of 28 percent.
• Most of these recorded cases were of theft (34) and rape (28).
• Of the 192 registered cases, 56.8 percent of the victims were from the Asian continent (126), followed by 18 percent of the victims from African countries (40).

State wise cases:

• The states/UTs reporting the highest charge sheet rate under IPC crimes are Kerala (96.0%), Puducherry (91.3%), and West Bengal (90.6%).
• With a crime rate of 171.6 per lakh population against the national average of 258, UP ranks 18th among Indian states, according to the latest report by the National Crime Records Bureau, which has released national crime statistics for 2022.
  • The state recorded a slight increase in crime rate, which increased from 154 to 171.6 per lakh population in 2021. In 2021, crime rates were generally low due to the Covid-induced lockdown.
• With 661 cases per lakh population, Kerala was the state with the highest crime rate in 2022. 2.35 lakh cases were registered here under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The total number of cases registered in UP was 4.01 lakh

Shortcomings in the report:

• This report shows only registered crimes, not actual crimes. For example, more reporting of crimes against women may mean more awareness, not more violence.
• This report follows a rule that only the most serious crimes are counted in an FIR.
  • This may lead to undercounting of some crimes, such as rape, if they are accompanied by murder.
• Data is collected from local police, which may not reflect the true causes or extent of crimes.
• The NCRB itself notes that the socio-economic factors or causes of crimes are not being captured by the bureau.
• Some groups do not report crimes due to fear or lack of trust in the police.
• Some police stations may be understaffed or have vacancies which affects data quality.

National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB):

• The National Crime Records Bureau is an office attached to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.
• The National Crime Records Bureau was established in 1986.
• Its motto is to modernize India's police and strengthen it in information technology.
• It has installed 762 server-based computer systems under the “Criminal Criminal Information System” (CCIS) in every State Crime Records Bureau and District Crime Records Bureau across the country.
  • So that a national level data base related to crimes, criminals and assets of criminals can be organized.
• Additionally it is also implementing "Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and System" (CCTNS), which is a mission mode project under the National e-Governance Plan of Government of India.
• NCRB has four divisions: Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS), Crime Statistics, Finger Print and Training.

Publications by NCRB:

• Crime in India.
• Accidental deaths and suicides.
• Prison Statistics.

Report on missing women and children in India.