India’s crime count hits 62 lakh in 2023: Cyber fraud, child offences see sharpest rise

India’s crime tally crossed 62 lakh in 2023, NCRB data shows. Cybercrime, child offences and tribal cases spiked, even as murders dipped slightly.

India witnessed a sharp spike in criminal activity last year, with the number of registered cases crossing 62 lakh. The latest Crime in India 2023 report from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) paints a mixed picture: some categories like murders saw a decline, but cybercrime, offences against children, and crimes against Scheduled Tribes (STs) recorded worrying increases.

Crime tally crosses 62 lakh

According to the ANI report citing the NCRB data, a total of 62,41,569 cognizable cases were registered in 2023, up 7.2 percent from 2022. Of these, 37.6 lakh fell under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 24.8 lakh under Special and Local Laws (SLL).

The overall crime rate rose from 422.2 per lakh population in 2022 to 448.3 in 2023. IPC cases made up 60.3 percent of the total, while SLL accounted for 39.7 percent.

What drove the rise?

• IPC offences: up 5.7 percent, led by thefts and obstruction on public ways.
• SLL offences: up 9.5 percent, with Motor Vehicle Act violations nearly doubling.
• Theft cases alone reached 6.89 lakh in 2023, while obstruction of public ways (Section 283 IPC) spiked by more than 60 percent.
• Motor Vehicle Act violations under SLL doubled to 1.91 lakh cases from 94,450 the previous year.

Crimes directly impacting the human body made up 31.5 percent of IPC cases, 11.85 lakh incidents. The biggest chunk was:

• Hurt cases: 6.36 lakh
• Deaths due to negligence: 1.65 lakh
• Kidnapping/abduction: 1.13 lakh
• Murder cases declined by 2.8 percent, from 28,522 in 2022 to 27,721 in 2023. Disputes and personal vendetta remained the leading motives.
• Kidnapping and abduction, however, rose 5.6 percent, with children accounting for over 70 percent of victims.

Crimes against women: 4.48 lakh cases, up marginally by 0.7 percent. Cruelty by husband or relatives was the most reported offence (29.8 percent).

Crimes against children: 1.77 lakh cases, a sharp 9.2 percent rise. Kidnapping and abduction (45 percent) and POCSO Act offences (38 percent) dominated.

Crimes against senior citizens: dipped 2.3 percent to 27,886 cases, with simple hurt, theft and fraud as the top three categories.

Public order and riots

Public tranquillity violations rose to 58,247 cases, mostly due to rioting, which made up two-thirds of such offences.

Cybercrime surge

• One of the steepest spikes was in cybercrime, which rose 31.2 percent to 86,420 cases.
• Fraud accounted for 70 percent (59,526 cases).
• Sexual exploitation (4,199) and extortion (3,326) were the other leading categories.
• The cybercrime rate jumped from 4.8 per lakh in 2022 to 6.2 in 2023.

Scheduled Tribes (STs): cases surged 28.8 percent to 12,960, with hurt, riots and rape leading.

Scheduled Castes (SCs): cases remained stable at 57,789, with hurt and criminal intimidation the top categories.

The NCRB’s 2023 report underlines a troubling reality: while some serious crimes like murder are on the decline, India is seeing sharp growth in cybercrime, child-related offences, and crimes against vulnerable communities.