NCRB’s Crime in India 2022 Report | 06 Dec 2023

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).