NEWS: National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) released the 2024 Crime in India report, the first to include data under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) alongside the IPC.

ABOUT

•        NCRBà established in 1986 by executive order based on the Tandon Committee and Police Commission recommendations

•        Operates under the Ministry of Home Affairs as India’s national crime database.

Overall Trends (Compared to 2023)

•        India àrecorded 58.86 lakh cognisable crimes in 2024= 6% decrease.

•        Crime rate per lakh population dropped from 448.3 to 418.9, the lowest since 2019.

•        Despite drop in registered cases, police pendency rose above 31%, and judicial conviction rate stayed at 53.3%.

Key Findings

•        Cybercrimeà Cases increased by 17.9%= surpassing 1 lakh for the first time; 72.6% were financial frauds.

•        Economic Offencesà Increased by 4.6%, with forgery, cheating, and fraud accounting for nearly 90%.

•        Juvenile OffencesàRose by 11.2%, with the majority (77%) in the 16 to 18 age bracket. Delhi had the highest rate at 41.6 per lakh (national average 7.9 per lakh).

Crimes Against Vulnerable Groups:

•        Womenà Cases fell by 1.5% to ~4.4 lakh, with ‘cruelty by husband’ as the dominant category (42%).

•        Childrenà Crimes rose by ~6%, with kidnapping and abduction being the largest categories.

•        Senior Citizensà A 16.9% increase, mainly driven by theft and fraud.

•        SCs & STsà Crimes against SCs decreased by 3.6%, with Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Bihar reporting the most cases. Crimes against STs fell by 23.1%.