New Delhi: In the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) annual report, crimes against women, children, senior citizens, Scheduled Castes (SC), and Scheduled Tribes (ST) saw an unsettling rise in 2022. The report, titled “Crime in India 2022,” reveals an increase of 4%, 8.7%, 9.3%, 13.1%, and 14.3%, respectively, in these categories. Economic offences surged by 11.1%, corruption by 10.5%, and cybercrimes by a significant 24.4%.
The delayed report, usually publicized by July or August, finally emerged, offering crucial insights for lawmakers, governments, academics, and policy analysts.
Highlighting the distressing statistics, the report disclosed that crimes against women reached 4,45,256 cases in 2022, a 4% jump from 2021. Disturbingly, cases of cruelty by spouses or relatives dominated (31.4%), followed by kidnapping and abduction (19.2%), assault “with Intent to outrage modesty” (18.7%), and rape (7.1%).
Rape cases, totalling 31,516, were most rampant in Rajasthan (5,399), Uttar Pradesh (3,690), Madhya Pradesh (3,029), Maharashtra (2,904), and Haryana (1,787). Delhi reported 1,212 cases, with the crime rate per lakh women population increasing to 66.4 in 2022 from 64.5 in 2021.
The report also unveiled an 8.7% rise in crimes against children, reaching 1,62,449 cases, primarily driven by kidnapping and abduction (45.7%) and cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (39.7%).
Crimes against senior citizens rose by 9.3%, totalling 28,545 cases, with a majority involving hurt (27.3%), theft (13.8%), and forgery, cheating, and fraud (11.2%).
Furthermore, crimes against SC increased by 13.1%, from 50,900 cases in 2021 to 57,582 cases in 2022, while crimes against ST rose by 14.3%, reaching 10,064 cases.
Economic offences surged by 11.1%, totalling 1,74,013 cases, with corruption cases increasing by 10.5% to 4,139. Cybercrimes spiked by 24.4%, reaching 65,893 cases, with fraud (64.8%), extortion (5.5%), and sexual exploitation (5.2%) being the primary motives.
Rise in Cybercrimes:
According to recent data, cyber crimes saw a significant increase of 24.4% with 65,893 cases being registered in 2022, as compared to 52,974 cases in 2021. The report highlights that 64.8% of these cases were attributed to fraud, with 42,710 cases. Extortion and sexual exploitation were the motives in 5.5% (3,648 cases) and 5.2% (3,434 cases) of the cases, respectively.
Further, Telangana reported the highest number of cybercrime incidents at 15,297 cases in 2022, followed by Karnataka at 12,556 cases and Uttar Pradesh at 10,117 cases.