The National Crime Records Bureau is a government body in India that is responsible for recording all types of crime. After each calendar year, data is collected by SCRBs through DCRBs and submitted to NCRB in its annual report. Megacities (cities with a population of ten lakh or more) have their own separate data set. Data on several IPC heads are gathered and released separately by the district.
The Crime in India report provides a comprehensive overview of:
Registered cases and their corresponding judgement.
Individuals arrested and their subsequent punishment.
Recent Update:
The NCRB- National Crime Records Bureau released the Crime in India Report for 2020. Despite a nationwide lockdown due to the COVID pandemic in 2020, which saw a decrease in serious offences, there was a significant surge in civil unrest.
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The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), located in New Delhi, was established in 1986 by the Ministry of Home Affairs to function as a repository of crime and criminal records, aiding in tracing criminality to the offenders.
The NCRB releases detailed annual crime data for the entire country.
The Crime in India report, first published in 1953, is a crucial tool for evaluating the state of law and order in the country.
Crime in India Report 2020
In 2020, a total of 66,01,285 serious offences were registered, which included 42,54,356 Indian Penal Code (IPC) offences and 23,46,929 SLL- Special and Local Laws offences.
This indicates a rise of 14,45,127 (28.0%) in the registration of cases compared to 2019 (51,56,158 cases).
In 2020, India also saw an average of 80 homicides per day, totalling 29,193 deaths, with Uttar Pradesh leading the list.
Key Highlights of Crime in India Report 2020
Conventional Crimes
There was a decrease of about 2 lakh in new cases involving crimes against children, women, and the elderly, as well as robbery, burglary, and theft.
Most of the serious offences against women were categorized as cruelty by a spouse or his family (30.2%), assault on women to outrage her dignity (19.7%), kidnapping of women (19.0%), and sexual assault (7.2%).
Homicide increased by 1 per cent, but violent crimes fell by 0.5 per cent.
When it comes to women's safety, Delhi is one of the country's cities with the highest incidents. In 2020, over 10,093 instances of violence against women were reported in the city.
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The spread of false or fake news and rumors, an offence under the IPC Code, saw a 214% rise in 2020 compared to 2019.
Civil Unrest
There was a 96% increase in communal rioting in 2020 compared to the previous year.
Caste riots increased by nearly 50%, agricultural riots by 38%, and Andolan/morcha riots by 33%.
Offences Against the Environment
In 2020, the number of cases classified as environment-related crimes increased by 78.1% across the country.
Cyber Crime
The reported cases of cybercrime per lakh population increased from 3.3 per cent in 2019 to 3.7 per cent in 2020.
What is cybercrime?
Cybercrime is defined as any illegal activity or improper conduct carried out using technology. It includes criminal activities carried out via a computer network, such as hacking, phishing, fraud, and denial-of-service attacks.
Crimes Against the State
There was a notable decrease in cases involving crimes against the state, with a 27% decrease compared to 2019.
However, Uttar Pradesh was the only state to see an increase in this category, primarily due to the increase in cases of destruction to public property filed by the state, most of which occurred during the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019.
Crime against Women
A total of 3,71,503 cases of crime against women were registered in 2020, showing a decline of 8.3% compared to 2019 (4,05,326 cases).
The majority of cases under crime against women under IPC 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 crime rate registered per lakh women population was 56.5 in 2020, compared to 62.3 in 2019.
Refer to the links below for more information on crime and violence against women and children in the country: