NCRB’s Crime in India 2022 Report

• 06 Dec 2023

For Prelims: National Crime Records Bureau, Cognizable crimes, Sedition, Accidental Deaths & Suicides.

For Mains: State of Crime in India and related issues, Effectiveness of legal frameworks in addressing different types of crimes.

Source: DTE

Why in News?

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has recently unveiled its annual report titled "Crime in India for 2022," providing a comprehensive overview of crime trends across the nation.

What are the Key Highlights of NCRB’s Crime in India 2022 Report?

• Overall Crime Statistics:
  • A total of over 58,00,000 cognizable crimes were registered, comprising both the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Special & Local Laws(SLL) crimes.
    • The registration of cases witnessed a 4.5% decline compared to 2021.
• Crime Rate Decline:
  • The crime rate per lakh population dropped from 445.9 in 2021 to 422.2 in 2022.
    • This decline is considered a more reliable indicator, considering the impact of population growth on absolute crime numbers.
• Safest City:
  • Kolkata emerged as the safest city in India for the third consecutive year, recording the least number of cognisable offences per lakh population among metropolises.
    • Pune (Maharashtra) and Hyderabad (Telangana) secured the second and third positions, respectively.
• Rise in Cyber Crimes:
  • Cybercrime reporting surged by 24.4%, totalling 65,893 cases, a significant surge from 52,974 cases in 2021.
  • Cyber fraud constituted the majority of cases (64.8%) of registered cases, followed by extortion (5.5%), and sexual exploitation (5.2%).
    • The crime rate under this category rose from 3.9 in 2021 to 4.8 in 2022.
• Suicides and Causes:
  • In 2022, India witnessed a significant surge in suicides, totalling over 1.7 Lakh cases, reflecting a concerning increase of 4.2% compared to 2021.
  • The suicide rate also rose by 3.3%, calculated as the number of suicides per lakh of the population.
    • Major causes included 'Family Problems,' 'Marriage Related Problems,' Bankruptcy and indebtedness, ‘Unemployment and professional issues’ and Illness'.
  • Maharashtra reported the highest number of suicides, followed closely by Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Telangana.
  • Daily wage earners constituted a significant portion, accounting for 26.4% of the total suicides.
    • Agricultural workers and farmers were also disproportionately affected, forming a substantial part of the suicide statistics.
    • This was followed by unemployed persons, who comprise 9.2% of all suicides reported in India in 2022. Among all suicides reported in the year, over 12,000 were of students.
• Escalating Crimes Against SCs and STs:
  • The Crime in India report highlighted an overall increase in crimes and atrocities against Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) persons.
    • States like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Telangana experienced a surge in such cases in 2022.
    • Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan persist as key contributors, consistently ranking among the top five states with the highest occurrences of crimes and atrocities against SC and ST communities.
    • Other states witnessing elevated levels of such offences include Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, and Punjab.
• Crimes Against Women:
  • A total of 4,45,256 cases of crime against women were reported in 2022, marking a 4% increase from 2021.
  • Dominant categories included 'Cruelty by Husband or His Relatives,' 'Kidnapping & Abduction of Women,' and 'Assault on Women with Intent to Outrage Her Modesty.'
• Crimes Against Children:
  • Cases of crimes against children showed an increase of 8.7% compared to 2021.
    • A majority of these cases related to kidnapping and abduction (45.7%) and 39.7% were filed under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
• Crime against Senior Citizens:
  • Cases of crimes against senior citizens rose by 9.3% to 28,545 cases compared to 26,110 cases in 2021.
    • A bulk of these cases (27.3%) related to hurt followed by theft (13.8%) and forgery, cheating, and fraud (11.2%).
• Animal Attacks on the Rise:
  • The NCRB report reveals a concerning trend in the number of people dying or getting injured due to animal attacks.
    • A significant 19% increase in such incidents was recorded in 2022 compared to 2021.
    • Maharashtra reported the highest number of cases, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh followed with varying numbers of reported cases.
  • In addition, the number of animal/reptile and insect bites cases 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.
• Environment-Related Crime:
  • The total number of environmental crimes in India decreased by around 18% in 2022, compared to 2021.
    • Environment-related offenses include violations under seven acts :
      • The Forest Act, 1927, Forest Conservation Act, 1980, The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, The Environmental (Protection) Act, 1986, Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, The Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000, National Green Tribunal Act, 2010.
  • The cases registered for violating the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 have increased by around 42%.
  • Violations registered under the Environmental (Protection) Act, 1986 also have increased by around 31%.
  • Forest offences increased in four states Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Haryana.
  • Wildlife offences increased in five states including Bihar, Punjab, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand.
    • Rajasthan, with the maximum number (30%) of wildlife crime cases in the country, recorded a 50% increase in such offenses in 2022 compared to 2021.
• Offences Against the State:
  • Offences against the State exhibited a slight increase in 2022 compared to the previous year.
    • There was approximately a 25% rise in cases registered under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) during this period.
  • Conversely, cases under the sedition Section of the IPC experienced a significant decline.
    • The decrease in sedition cases may be attributed to the Supreme Court's decision in May 2022 to keep sedition cases in abeyance (hold).
• Rise in Economic Offences:
  • Economic offences are categorized into criminal breach of trust, forgery, cheating, fraud (FCF), and counterfeiting.
    • FCF accounted for the majority of cases (1,70,901 cases), followed by criminal breach of trust (21,814 cases) and counterfeiting (670 cases).
  • The Crime in India report disclosed that government authorities confiscated fake Indian currency notes (FICN) totaling over Rs.342 crore in 2022.
• Crimes Against Foreigners:
  • 192 cases registered against foreigners, a 28% increase from 150 cases in 2021.
    • 56.8% of victims were from the Asian continent, while 18% were from African countries.
• High Chargesheeting Rates:
  • States with the highest charge sheeting rates under IPC crimes are Kerala, Puducherry, and West Bengal.
    • Chargesheeting rate reflects cases where police reached the stage of framing charges against the accused, out of the total true cases (where a charge sheet was not laid but a final report submitted as true, plus the total cases charge-sheeted).

What is the National Crime Records Bureau?

• NCRB was set up in 1986 to function as a repository of information on crime and criminals to assist the investigators in linking the crime to the perpetrators based on the recommendations of the Tandon Committee, National Police Commission (1977-1981) and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) Taskforce (1985).
  • It is part of the MHA and is headquartered in New Delhi.
• It also acts as a “national warehouse” for the fingerprint records of Indian and foreign criminals, and assists in locating interstate criminals through fingerprint search.
• The NCRB has four divisions: Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS), Crime Statistics, Finger Prints, and Training.
• NCRB Publications:
  • Crimes in India, Accidental Deaths and Suicides, Prison Statistics, and Reports on Missing Women and children in India.
  • These publications serve as principal reference points on crime statistics not only for police officers but also for criminologists, researchers, media and policymakers not only in India but abroad as well.