Among metropolitan cities, the national Capital continues to remain the most unsafe metropolitan city for women in the country India, with an average of three rape cases reported every day in 2022. The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data showed the national capital recorded 14,158 incidents of crime against women in 2022, the highest number among 19 metropolitan cities for the third consecutive year. It was distantly followed by 6,176 cases in Mumbai and 3,924 in Bengaluru.
Under categories of ‘Assault on Women with Intent to Outrage her Modesty’ and ‘Kidnapping & Abduction of Women’, Delhi tops among the 19 metropolitan cities. The cases of crimes against women in Delhi accounted for 31.20 percent of total crimes in the category, according to the NCRB data. Delhi, meanwhile, reported 1,204 rape cases last year, followed by 497 in Jaipur, the NCRB data revealed.
Delhi logged close to 3 lakh criminal cases, an increase of 3.3 per cent, in 2002 in comparison to the previous year, according to the latest NCRB data. A total of 2,98,988 cases were registered in the national capital under the Indian Penal Code in 2022 against 2,89,045 in 2021, as per the annual crime report of the National Crime Records Bureau. The overall number of cases registered in 2020 was 2,45,844.
The capital city also logged the highest rate of FIRs linked to crimes against women in the country in 2022. The national capital recorded 14247 cases in 2022 with a rate of 144.4 (per lakh), which is way above the national average of 66.4. The figures in 2020 and 2021 were 10,093 and 14,277 respectively.
According to NCRB report, kidnapping of minors has gone up by 2 per cent in the national capital with the majority of victims from the 12-18 age group. The number of girls kidnapped in the year were more than twice that of male abductions in the 12-18 age group, the recently released NCRB data for 2022 showed. Kidnapping cases rose from 5,585 in 2022 to 5,475 cases in 2021. As per the NCRB data, 4,011 cases were reported in 2020. In the 12-16 age group, 2,659 teenagers -- 771 boys and 1,888 girls -- were kidnapped in 2022.
According to the data, 2,245 teens in the 16-18 age group were kidnapped, of which 569 were males and 1,676 females. In the 6-12 age group, 315 boys and and 260 girls were kidnapped in 2022, while 66 boys and 45 girls were kidnapped in the 0-6 age group.
A total of 129 cases pertaining to dowry deaths were recorded in the city. Delhi reported 4,847 incidents of cruelty by husbands or by their relatives.
As per data, 16 cases of murders arose out of love affairs in the national capital in 2022. The cases include the sensational murder of Shraddha Walker, who was allegedly strangled and chopped into 35 pieces by her live-in partner Aftab Amin Poonawala, who suspected she was having a relationship with some other man. Her body was dumped in a jungle near south Delhi’s Mehrauli.
Delhi, according to the NCRB data, recorded overall 501 cases of murder — of these, at least 13 were committed over illicit relationships, 54 in personal enmity, and 197 in family, property, and other disputes. At least 35 murders took place over money and one was over water. Two cases of murders emerged out of incidents of road rage and three due to gang rivalry.At least 10 cases of murder were committed during dacoity and robbery bids, said the report.Human sacrifice became the cause of at least one case of murder.
It also recorded 106 cases of human trafficking. At least 492 minor boys were trafficked in Delhi as compared to 113 girls in 2022 — all of whom were recovered, the report said.
The incidents of crime against senior citizens (aged 60 or above) increased from 1,166 cases in 2021 to 1,313 cases in 2022.
Cases of cyber crime in the city doubled in 2022. The number of such cases rose from 345 in 2021 to to 685 cases in 2022, NCRB’s comprehensive crime data for 2022 showed. In 2020, the count was much lower with only 166 cyber crime cases, it added. A senior official of Delhi Police said, “We are continuously working to promote cyber awareness and several campaigns are being carried out from time to time.”
The NCRB report shows Delhi, on the other hand reported 1,529 POCSO cases in 2022. Mumbai was the second highest in metropolitan cities recording 1,195 cases
The NCRB report also shows that the rate of crime against women (number of incidents per 1 lakh population) increased from 64.5 percent in 2021 to 66 percent in 2022.
Out of this, a total of 48,755 cases of crime against women were registered in 19 metropolitan cities during 2022, showing an increase of 12.3% over 2021 (43,414 cases).
The NCRB data also showed as many as 56,653 sudden deaths were reported in 2022, with 32,410 deaths attributed to “heart attack” and 24,243 deaths to “other” reasons. The maximum deaths (19,456) were reported in the age group of 45-60 years.
An increase was observed in suicides during 2022 (1,70,924 suicides) when compared with 2021 (1,64,033 suicides). There was an increase in accidental deaths — 4,30,504 such deaths were reported in 2022, compared with 3,97,530 deaths in 2021.
