Key Findings of NCRB Report 2024
Context:
The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) recently released its twin annual publications: the Crime in India, 2024 report and the Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India (ADSI), 2024 report.
Key Findings of the Crime in India, 2024:
The country witnessed a 6% decline in overall cognisable crimes in 2024 compared to the previous year.
The NCRB recorded a total of 58.86 lakh crimes, which include cases registered under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the new Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and various Special and Local Laws.
Bucking the general downward trend, cybercrime cases registered a significant increase of over 17%, crossing the one-lakh mark (1,01,928 cases).
The overwhelming majority of these crimes (72.6%) were driven by the motive of fraud, followed distantly by sexual exploitation and extortion.
Cases categorised as offences 'against the state' saw a rise of over 6%, totalling 5,194 registered cases.
The report noted a 3.6% decrease in crimes against Scheduled Castes (SCs), and a much sharper decline of 23.1% in crimes against Scheduled Tribes (STs) compared to 2023.
Key Findings of ADSI Report 2024:
The ADSI report recorded a total of 1,70,746 suicides nationwide.
The most vulnerable demographic remains daily wage workers, who tragically accounted for roughly 31% of all reported suicides.
Other heavily impacted groups included homemakers (22,113 deaths), unemployed individuals (14,778), and students (14,488).
The agriculture sector accounted for 6.2% of total suicides (10,546 individuals).
This includes both farmers/cultivators and agricultural labourers, with male farmers accounting for the vast majority of cultivator suicides.
Deaths attributed to drug overdoses witnessed a massive 50% increase from the previous year, claiming 978 lives.
Regionally, Tamil Nadu recorded the highest number of these specific fatalities.