NCRB data: 10 key takeaways you must know

2. Cyber crimes: It saw an almost 18% jump in the period. A total of 1,01,928 cases were registered under the cyber crimes category, showing an increase of 17.9% from 2023, when 86,420 cases were lodged. The crime rate under this category increased from 6.2 in 2023 to 7.3 in 2024.

3. Economic offender cases: Economic offences rose by 4.6% in the period. While 2,04,973 cases were registered in the category in 2023, the figure stood at 2,14,379 cases in 2024.

4. Missing children: Child safety remained a concern with 98,375 children going missing in 2024 – a 7.8% increase from 91,296 in 2023. These included 75,603 girls, 22,768 boys and four transgender children.

5. Murder cases: During the year, 27,049 cases of murder were registered, showing a marginal decline of 2.4% over the previous year, with disputes being the leading motive behind the crimes, followed by personal vendetta or enmity, and gain.

6. Crime against women: Crime against women showed a dip of 1.5% from the previous year, with 4.41 lakh cases lodged in 2024 as compared to 4.48 lakh the previous year. Cruelty by husband or relatives was the leading cause of such crimes, followed by kidnapping, crime against minors, assault on women with intent to outrage her modesty.

Telangana recorded the highest crime rate against women in the country in 2024. The state reported a crime rate of 128.6 cases per one lakh population, the highest in India, followed by Odisha at 118.3. At 13,396, Delhi also recorded the most number of crimes against women in 2024 – more than a quarter of all such cases in Metros.

Rape against women: Chandigarh has recorded the highest rape crime rate in the country, with 16 women and girls falling victim to rape per one lakh population.

Chandigarh, with the highest rape rate, stood at 16.6, Goa ranked second with a rape crime rate of 13.3 — with 105 registered rape cases in 2024, while Rajasthan stood third with a rape rate of 12.2.

7. Traffic-related accidents: In India, on average, 546 people die every day in traffic-related accidents. According to the report, 1.99 lakh people died in traffic accidents in 2024, an increase of 0.79 per cent compared to 2023, when 1.98 lakh people lost their lives. The top three states in terms of fatalities are Uttar Pradesh (27,071), Tamil Nadu (20,390) and Maharashtra (19,475).

8. Cases against Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs): The number of cases registered against SCs and STs also saw a decline.

A total of 55,698 cases were registered for crimes against SCs, showing a decrease of 3.6% over 2023, when 57,789 cases were registered. Crimes against STs also showed a sharp decline of 23.1%, with a total of 9,966 cases in 2024, as compared to 12,960 cases in 2023.

Uttar Pradesh reported the highest number of cases against SCs at 14,642, followed by Madhya Pradesh with 7,765 and Bihar with 7,549 cases. Of 9,966 cases of crimes against STs, Madhya Pradesh reported the highest number of such cases at 3,165, followed by Rajasthan with 2,282 and Maharashtra with 830 cases.

9. Human Trafficking: The cases against human trafficking saw a decline of 2.2 %, with a total of 2,135 registered cases. A total of 6,018 victims have been reported to be trafficked, of which 2,297 children and 3,721 adults were trafficked.

10. Juveniles in Conflict with Law: There is an increase of 11.2 % cases over 2023 against juveniles, with a registered case of 34,878 in 2024. “Majority of juveniles in conflict with law apprehended under IPC & BNS and SLL crimes were in the age group of 16 years to 18 years (77.7%) (33,129 out of 42,633) during 2024”, says the Report.

BEYOND THE NUGGET: Supreme Court expanded definition of ‘acid attack victim’

1. The Supreme Court on May 4 held that survivors of acid attacks, who were forced to consume acid and suffered internal injuries without any visible scarring, will be considered acid attack victims under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016.

2. The RPwD Act includes acid attack survivors in its list of specified disabilities. But the definition it settled on was narrow. Under Schedule 2(zc) of the Act, an “acid attack victim” is a person “disfigured due to violent assaults by throwing of acid or similar corrosive substance.” Survivors who had acid forcefully ingested fell outside it.

3. The court noted the problem was that “the use of the term “disfigured” appears to confine the scope of external disfigurement of the body, thereby excluding cases involving internal injuries or scarring caused by the administration of acid.”

4. This resulted in victims falling outside the purview of the RPwD Act. A disability certificate under the Act is the gateway to financial assistance, rehabilitation schemes, medical support, etc. Without it, a survivor cannot access any of it.

Post Read Question

With reference to the annual report on crime in India for the year 2024, consider the following statements:

1. The crime rate has increased from 2023 to 2024.

2. Cybercrime has increased in 2024.

3. Haryana recorded the highest crime rate against women in the country in 2024.

How many of the statements given above are correct?

(a) Only one

(b) Only two

(c) All three

(d) None

*Earlier, the answer was incorrectly marked as (b). The correct answer is (a), as only Statement 2 is correct.

(Sources: Crime cases saw 6% dip but cyber offences rose by 18% in 2024: NCRB data, Women unsafe, juvenile cases surge, ncrb.gov.in, Those forced to consume acid also entitled to state support )

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