India recorded 77 rape cases, 80 murders daily in 2020, says NCRB report; crimes against women highest in Rajasthan

New Delhi: India has recorded an average of 80 murders and 77 rape cases daily in 2020, National Crime Records Bureau’s (NCRB) report revealed on Wednesday. With an average of 80 murders daily in 2020, India reported a total of 29,193 fatalities in 2020 with Uttar Pradesh topping the chart among states. The data showed a marginal increase of 1 percent over a total of 28,915 murders in 2019, with a daily average of 79 killings during the year. Among states, Uttar Pradesh reported the maximum of 3,779 murder cases in 2020 followed by Bihar with 3,150 cases, in Maharashtra 2,163 cases were registered, 2,101 cases in Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal lodged 1,948 murder cases, the data showed. Additionally, Delhi logged 472 murder cases in 2020, according to the data for the year. Seventy-seven rape cases were reported across India on an average every day in 2020, totalling 28,046 such incidents during the year. Overall, 3,71,503 cases of crime against women were reported across the country last year, showing a decline of 8.3 percent as 4,05,326 cases were registered in 2019, the NCRB stated. Of the total cases of crimes against women in 2020, there were 28,046 incidents of rape involving 28,153 victims, according to the NCRB data for the year, which witnessed COVID-19 outbreak and pandemic-induced lockdowns. As per the NCRB data, Rajasthan reported the highest number of rapes (5,310) in India in 2020, followed by Uttar Pradesh with 2,769 cases, Madhya Pradesh (2,339 cases), and Maharashtra (2,061 cases). The crime rate registered per lakh women population is 56.5 in 2020 in comparison with 62.3 in 2019. Of the total crimes against women in 2020, the maximum of 1,11,549 cases were registered under the category of “cruelty by husband or relatives”, while there were 62,300 cases of kidnapping and abduction. Besides rape, there were 85,392 cases of assault to outrage modesty and 3,741 cases of attempt to commit rape, the NCRB data showed. There were 105 cases of acid attacks logged across the country during 2020. India also recorded 6,966 cases of dowry deaths with 7,045 victims last year. According to the data, the cases of kidnapping and abduction, however, went down by over 19 percent in 2020 as compared to 2019. There were a total of 84,805 lodged cases of kidnapping and abduction in 2020 as against 1,05,036 in 2019. Among states, the maximum of 12,913 kidnapping and abductions cases in 2020 were lodged in Uttar Pradesh followed by West Bengal (9,309), Maharashtra (8,103), Bihar (7,889) and Madhya Pradesh (7,320). Delhi registered 4,062 kidnapping and abduction cases during 2020, it showed. The NCRB stated that there were 88,590 total victims in 84,805 cases of kidnapping and abduction in the country last year. Of these, the majority 56,591 victims were children while the remaining were adults. A total of 1,28,531 cases of crime against children were registered during 2020, showing a decrease of 13.2 percent over 2019 (1,48,090 cases). Major crime heads under ‘crime against children’ during 2020 were kidnapping and abduction (42.6 percent) and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (38.8 percent) including child rape. The crime rate registered per lakh children population is 28.9 in 2020 in comparison with 33.2 in 2019. The country also reported a total of 1,714 cases of human trafficking were registered in 2020 as compared to 2,208 cases in the year 2019, showing a decrease of 22.4 percent. A total of 4,709 victims have been reported to be trafficked in which 2,222 children and 2,487 adults were trafficked. Overall India has seen a jump of 28 percent in registration of crimes in 2020 compared to 2019, mainly due to COVID-19-related violations in the country. In 2020, the registration of cases under IPC has increased by 31.9 percent while cases under Special and Local Laws (SLL) has surged by 21.6 per cent compared to 2019. The report also stated that a major increase has been witnessed in the cases registered under Disobedience to order duly promulgated by Public Servant (Section 188 IPC) from 29,469 to 6,12,179 in 2020. It is obvious that China’s military aggressiveness, bullying of the nations in Indo-Pacific necessitated a response, and the ‘historic’ security alliance is aimed at mitigating the challenges arising out of China’s force posture