The overall crimes against women in the country reduced by 8.3% in 2020 compared to 2019, according to the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report released on Tuesday, 14 September.
However, West Bengal and Odisha saw the most increase in crimes against women in 2020 compared to 2019. On the other hand, Delhi saw a decline from 13,395 cases in 2019 to 10,093 cases in 2020. Uttar Pradesh was one of the states showing the sharpest decline, with cases going down from 59,853 in 2019 to 49,385 in 2020.
A total of 3,71,503 cases of crime against women were registered in 2020, showing a decline of 8.3% from the 4,05,326 cases in 2019.
The majority of the cases were registered under ‘Cruelty by Husband or His Relatives’ (30.0%) followed by ‘Assault on Women with Intent to Outrage her Modesty’ (23.0%), ‘Kidnapping & Abduction of Women’ (16.8%) and ‘Rape’ (7.5%), the data showed.
Meanwhile, a total of 35,331 cases of crime against women were registered in 19 metropolitan cities (those having a population of more than 2 million) during 2020, showing a decrease of 21.1% over 2019 (44,783 cases).
The report also said cases registered under Crimes against Women, Children and Senior Citizens, Theft, Burglary, Robbery and Dacoity had declined since the country was under complete lockdown during the first wave of the pandemic.
Overall Crimes in Delhi Saw a Dip of 16%; Increase in UP
Overall, crimes in Delhi reduced by 16% in 2020 compared to 2019. However, in 2019, the capital had recorded a nearly 20% rise in crime compared to 2018.
A total of 2,49,192 cases were registered in the national capital under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in 2020, showing a massive decline of 50,283 than those reported in 2019. In 2018, the total IPC cases in Delhi were 2,49,012.
Crimes such as murder and kidnapping, and crimes against women reduced in 2020 compared to 2019. Murder cases declined by 9% in 2020 compared to 2019.
Meanwhile, cases in UP have been steadily increasing since 2018, which is in contrast to the recent statements made by the state’s Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. A total of 3,42,355 cases were registered under different sections of the IPC in 2018, increasing to 3,53,131 in 2019 and 3,55,110 in 2020.
Overall Crime Rate Goes Up by 28%
The overall crime rate saw an increase of 28%, from 51,56,158 cognisable crime cases in 2019 to 66,01,285 in 2020.
A significant increase was seen in the cases registered under ‘Disobedience to order duly promulgated by Public Servant’, where cases went up from 29,469 in 2019 to 6,12,179 cases in 2020.
In March 2020, The Indian Express had reported that those who violate the lockdown orders could face legal action under the “Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, which lays down punishment as per Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, for flouting such orders.”
Cases registered under ‘Other IPC Crimes’ also saw a huge jump, from 2,52,268 cases in 2019 to 10,62,399 cases in 2020.
Murders saw a marginal increase of 1% since 2019, with ‘Disputes’ being the main motive behind them, followed by ‘Personal vendetta or enmity’ and ‘Gain’. Meanwhile, kidnapping and abduction saw a decrease of 19.3% from 2019.
A total of 71,107 cases of offences against public tranquility were registered under various sections of the IPC during 2020, out of which rioting (51,606 cases) accounted for 72.6% of the total such cases. The cases of offences against public tranquility increased by 12.4% in 2020 compared to 2019 (63,262 cases).
Cybercrimes increased 11.8% from 44,735 cases in 2019 to 50,035 cases in 2020. During 2020, 60.2% of such cases were for the motive of Fraud, followed by Sexual exploitation (6.6%) and Extortion (4.9%). The cases of cyber fraud almost doubled in Telangana from 2019 to 2020, with Assam, Gujarat, Bihar, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal also showing a significant increase.
Fake Indian Currency Notes seizure saw a huge increase of 190.5%, from 2,87,404 notes worth ₹ 25,39,09,130 in 2019 to a total of 8,34,947 notes worth ₹ 92,17,80,480.
Crimes Against SCs, STs Increase by Over 9%
A total of 50,291 cases were registered for crimes against Scheduled Castes (SCs), showing an increase of 9.4% over 2019 (45,961 cases). The crime rate registered showed an increase from 22.8 in 2019 to 25.0 in 2020. A significant increase was witnessed in states like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh.
Meanwhile, a total of 8,272 cases were registered for committing crime against Scheduled Tribes (STs), which increased by 9.3% over 2019's 7,570 cases. The registered crime rate also increased from 7.3 in 2019 to 7.9 in 2020. Madhya Pradesh witnessed the highest rise from the cases in 2019.
(With inputs from The Indian Express.)
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