Crimes against women, children, senior citizens, marginalised groups on rise in 2022: NCRB report

2022 witnessed more crimes against vulnerable groups - women, children senior citizens and marginalised communities - in comparison to 2021, the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report revealed..Crimes against women.4.45 lakh cases of crime against women were registered in 2022, indicating a 4% rise since 2021. Last year, the crime rate registered per lakh women population was 66.4, compared to 64.5 in 2021.There has also been a steady rise in crimes against women over the last three years — from 3.71 lakh cases in 2020 to 4.28 lakh cases in 2021 and then increasing to 4.45 lakh cases in 2022.With 65,743 cases, Uttar Pradesh had the highest number of such cases, followed by Maharashtra with 45,331 cases and Rajasthan witnessing 45,058 cases in 2022. Among metros, Delhi logged 14,158 cases of crime against women. In 2021 and 2020, Delhi witnessed 13,982 and 9,782 cases, respectively..Cruelty by husband or his relatives, abduction, and rape comprised the bulk of these crimes against women. In 2022, there were almost 1.4 lakh cases of cruelty registered against husbands or their relatives, indicating a 3% rise from the previous year.While a total of 88,273 women fell victim to abduction, there were about 31,516 cases of rape. The maximum number of rape cases were registered in Rajasthan (5,399) followed by Uttar Pradesh (3,692), Madhya Pradesh (3,092) and Maharashtra (2,904).The national capital saw 1,212 rape cases..Crimes against children.Crimes against children prompted the registration of 1,62,449 cases in 2022, showing an increase of 8.7% compared to 2021.Maharashtra saw the highest number of these cases (20,762), followed closely by Madhya Pradesh with 20,415 cases and Uttar Pradesh with 18,682 cases. Delhi witnessed 7,468 cases of crimes against children in 2022..The majority of crimes against children fell in the category of abduction and kidnapping. There were 2,390 cases of murder in the category of heinous crimes. A total of 76,069 children were abducted for various reasons, including ransom and prostitution, giving rise to over 74,000 such cases being registered.A total of 63,116 minor girls were subjected to sexual assault, giving rise to the registration of 62,095 cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in 2022..Crimes against senior citizens.A total of 28,545 cases were registered for committing crimes against senior citizens (aged above 60 years), showing an increase of 9.3% in registration of such crimes compared to 2021. Maximum crimes against senior citizens took place in Madhya Pradesh with 6,187 cases followed by Maharashtra with 5,059 cases, Tamil Nadu (2,376) and Telangana (2,181). Delhi, with 1,315 such cases, saw a spike of 13% in 2022 from the previous year. Of the total cases, there were 1,269 cases of murder, 83 culpable homicides and 431 attempt to murder cases committed against seniors citizens. Maximum numbers of such murders were committed in Tamil Nadu (198) followed by Maharashtra (183) and Madhya Pradesh (128). The national capital witnessed murders of 22 senior citizens in 2022. .Crimes against marginalised groups.Indian registered a steep 13% rise in crimes against Scheduled Castes in 2022 compared to the previous year.A total of 57,582 crimes were reported, with a case conviction rate of 34%.Of the total, 18,428 or 32% cases were registered under the simple hurt category. Cases of criminal intimidation comprised 9.2% of the total cases (5,274 cases) and 4,703 cases or 8.2% of the total registered cases were for offences under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act..[Read the report]