Crimes against women, children, SC/ST, and cyber crimes, increased in 2022: Crime in India report

The annual NCRB report, released on a day when election results in four States were announced, finds a surge in accidents, suicides, and sudden deaths

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Crimes against women, Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), children, cyber crimes, and offences against the state saw an increase in 2022 as compared with 2021, according to the annual ‘Crime in India Report 2022’ published by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) on Sunday.

The annual crime report, and the Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India (ADSI) report, were published when the results of the Assembly elections in four States were announced on December 3. In 2022, the report was published in August.

The ADSI report said there had been a 11.6% increase in the number of “sudden deaths” reported across the country. As many as 56,653 sudden deaths were reported in 2022, with 32,410 deaths attributed to “heart attack” and 24,243 deaths to “other” reasons. The maximum deaths (19,456) were reported in the age group of 45-60 years.

An increase was observed in suicides during 2022 (1,70,924 suicides) when compared with 2021 (1,64,033 suicides). There was an increase in accidental deaths — 4,30,504 such deaths were reported in 2022, compared with 3,97,530 deaths in 2021.

According to the Crime in India report, a total of 4,45,256 cases of ‘crimes against women’ were registered during 2022, showing an increase of 4% over 2021 (4,28,278 cases).

The majority of cases occurring as ‘crimes against women’ under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) were registered under ‘cruelty by husband or his relatives’ (31.4%) followed by ‘kidnapping and abduction of women’ (19.2%), ‘assault on women with intent to outrage her modesty’ (18.7%), and ‘rape’ (7.1%).

A total of 1,62,449 cases of crimes against children were registered during 2022, showing an increase of 8.7% over 2021 (1,49,404 cases).

In percentage terms, the major heads of crime under ‘crimes against children’ during 2021 were kidnapping and abduction (45.7%), and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 (39.7%), including child rape. A total of 30,555 cases have been registered against juveniles during 2022, depicting a decline of 2% over 2021 (31,170 cases).

The crime rate depicts a decline from 7% in 2021 to 6.9% in 2022.

A total of 28,545 cases were registered for committing crimes against senior citizens (above 60 years), showing an increase of 9.3% over 2021 (26,110 cases).

A total of 57,582 cases were registered for committing crimes against SCs, showing an increase of 13.1% over 2021 (50,900 cases).

A total of 10,064 cases were registered for committing crime against Scheduled Tribes (ST), showing an increase of 14.3% over 2021 (8,802 cases).

A total of 1,93,385 cases were registered under economic offences, showing an increase of 11.1% in registration over 2021 (1,74,013 cases).

A total of 4,139 cases have been registered in 2022 by the State Anti-Corruption Bureaux (ACB) as compared with 3,745 cases in 2021.

A total of 65,893 cases were registered under cyber crimes, showing an increase of 24.4% in registration over 2021 (52,974 cases). During 2022, 64.8% of the cyber crime cases registered were with the motive of fraud (42,710 out of 65,893 cases) followed by extortion at 5.5% (3,648 cases), and sexual exploitation at 5.2% (3,434 cases). A total of 5,610 cases were registered in 2022 as compared with 5,164 cases in the year 2021, showing an increase of 8.6%. Out of 5,610 cases, 78.5% of cases were registered under the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act (4,403 Cases) followed by 1,005 (17.9%) cases under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

A total of 58,24,946 cognisable crimes comprising 35,61,379 Indian Penal Code (IPC) crimes and 22,63,567 special and local laws (SLL) crimes were registered in 2022. This shows a decline of 2,71,364 (4.5%) in the registration of cases over 2021 (60,96,310 cases).

A total of 58,24,946 cognisable crimes comprising 35,61,379 IPC crimes and 22,63,567 SLL crimes were registered in 2022. It shows a decline of 2,71,364 (4.5%) in the registration of cases over 2021 (60,96,310 cases).

Major decline is seen in the cases registered under ‘disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant’ (Section 188 of the IPC) from 3,22,115 cases in 2021 to 67,350 cases in 2022, and under ‘other IPC crimes’ from 4,96,535 cases in 2021 to 2,92,964 cases in 2022. Such cases had seen a surge in the COVID-19 affected years of 2020 and 2021, when lockdown was imposed for several days.