NCRB 2022 report on crime in India

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.

Important Points

Overview of the 2022 NCRB Report

•     The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) released its annual report detailing crime statistics in India for the year 2022.  The report covers a broad spectrum of crimes, including those against women, Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), cybercrimes, and more.

Crime Trends and Numbers

•     In 2022, a total of 58,24,946 cognizable crimes were reported, comprising 35,61,379 Indian Penal Code (IPC) crimes and 22,63,567 Special & Local Laws (SLL) crimes. This represented a 4.5% decline from the previous year. The crime rate, measured as crimes registered per lakh population, decreased from 445.9 in 2021 to 422.2 in 2022.

Crimes Against Women

•     Crime against women increased by 4% in 2022, with 4,45,256 cases reported. The majority of these cases fell under categories such as 'Cruelty by Husband or His Relatives' (31.4%), 'Kidnapping & Abduction of Women' (19.2%), and 'Assault on Women with Intent to Outrage her Modesty' (18.7%).

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%).

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.

Cybercrimes on the Rise

•     The reporting of cybercrimes saw a significant increase of 24.4% compared to 2021, with 65,893 cases. Fraud constituted the majority of these cases (64.8%), followed by extortion (5.5%) and sexual exploitation (5.2%).

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.

Suicides and Contributing Factors

•     The report noted a 4.2% increase in reported suicides in 2022 (1,70,924 suicides) compared to the previous year. Major  contributing factors included 'Family Problems (other than marriage-related problems)' (31.7%), 'Marriage-Related  Problems' (4.8%), and 'Illness' (18.4%). The male-to-female ratio of suicide victims was 71.8:28.2.

Data Compilation Process

•     The NCRB compiles data from police forces across states and Union Territories. The information is entered at the local police station level, validated at district and state levels, and finally by the NCRB.

State-wise Trends

•     States and Union Territories with the highest chargesheeting rates under IPC crimes included Kerala (96.0%), Puducherry  (91.3%), and West Bengal (90.6%). It's important to note that this indicates the percentage of cases where charges were framed against the accused, not the actual crime incidence.

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.