Crime against children records 9.2-per cent rise in 2023: NCRB

New Delhi, Sep 30 (PTI) A total of 1,77,335 cases of crime against children were registered in the country in 2023, showing an increase of 9.2 per cent over 2022, according to the latest NCRB report.

The data compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) showed that the crime rate in 2023 stood at 39.9 per one-lakh child population, in comparison to 36.6 in 2022.

In 2022, a total of 1,62,449 cases of crimes against children were recorded, while the number stood at 1,49,404 in 2021.

"A total of 1,77,335 cases of crime against children were registered during 2023, showing an increase of 9.2 per cent over 2022 (1,62,449 cases)," the NCRB report said.

In percentage terms, major crime heads under "Crime Against Children" in 2023 were "Kidnapping and Abduction of Children" (79,884 cases or 45 per cent) and "Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act" (67,694 cases or 38.2 per cent).

Victim demographics show that 762 victims were aged below six years, 3,229 aged between six and 12 years, 15,444 aged between 12 and 16 years and 21,411 aged between 16 and 18 years, bringing the total number of child victims to 40,846.

Most were girls in rape-related sections.

Of the 40,434 cases, the offenders were known to the victims in 39,076, which included family members in 3,224 cases, family friends or neighbours or employers or other known persons in 15,146 cases and friends or online friends or live-in partners on the pretext of marriage in 20,706 cases.

These figures include 40,434 cases of penetrative sexual assault (sections 4 and 6 of the POCSO Act, often combined with IPC section 376 for rape), affecting 40,846 victims. Aggravated assaults and harassment (sections 8 and 10 of the POCSO Act with IPC section 354) followed with 22,444 cases.

Kidnapping and abduction emerged as the largest contributor, with 79,884 IPC cases reported, victimising 82,106 children -- a rate of 18 per one lakh.

Over 58,927 of these were general abductions, including 37,844 instances where the missing children were deemed kidnapped.

Notably, 14,637 cases involved abducting minor girls to compel marriage.

Other significant IPC crimes included 1,219 murders (1,384 victims), with 89 linked to rape or POCSO violations; 3,050 simple-hurt cases and 373 cases of abetment to suicide. Special and Local Laws (SLL) beyond the POCSO Act added to the tally, with 6,038 cases under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act and 1,390 under the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act.

Regionally, Madhya Pradesh topped the list with 22,393 total cases (rate: 77.9), followed by Maharashtra (22,390; rate: 62) and Uttar Pradesh (18,852; rate: 22.1).

Assam reported a sharp spike of 10,174 cases (rate: 84.2, the highest among the states), while Bihar saw 9,906 cases. Union Territories like the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (143.4) and Delhi (140.3) had disproportionately high rates, with Delhi alone registering 7,769 cases.

While the overall chargesheeting rate was 64.3 per cent, it varied widely -- high in Tamil Nadu (93.7 per cent) and Andhra Pradesh (91.3 per cent), but low in Delhi (31.7 per cent) and Haryana (39.6 per cent).

Police disposal showed 1,12,290 cases chargesheeted out of the 2,57,756 investigated, with 80,198 pending at the end of the year (pendency: 32.2 per cent).

According to an analysis by Child Rights and You (CRY), a rise or fall in the number of cases of crimes against children depends on many factors, including increased community awareness leading to enhanced trust in law enforcement and more proactive reporting due to improved access to legal remedies.

According to the NCRB 2023 data released by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and analysed by CRY, on an average, 486 crimes were committed against children every day, meaning such a crime was committed every three minutes in the country.

Further analysis highlights that crimes against children clocked nearly a 10-fold rise since 2005, when 18,700 cases were recorded. The upward trend accelerated after 2012-13, somewhat dipped temporarily during the COVID-19 years (2019-20), but has since surged again, reaching the all-time high of 1.77 lakh cases in 2023.

Overall, the trend follows an exponential growth path, with projections suggesting that the figures could cross 2.5 lakh in the near future, CRY said.

"While the government has taken many significant steps and systemic interventions to effectively address the overall safety and protection of children, the current trend underscores the requirement of creating more awareness among the civil society and th other stakeholders concerned, apart from the government," said Puja Marwaha, CEO, CRY.

The data revealed that in 2023, two in every five crimes against children were under the category of sexual offences.

There were 70,053 cases of sexual offences recorded against children in 2023 -- a 5-per cent rise over the 66,996 such cases reported in 2022.

This means, on an average, around 192 cases of sexual offences were recorded against children every day.

Among all sub-categories under sexual offences against children, crimes under the POCSO Act (read with sections 376, 354 and 509 of the IPC) witnessed the sharpest increase of 7 per cent -- from 63,414 (2022) to 67,694 (2023). However, the percentage of sexual offences in total crimes against children slightly decreased from 41 per cent in 2022 to 40 per cent in 2023.

However, according to CRY, an increase in the number of crimes cannot always be regarded as an indication of the environment turning more hostile towards children.

From a statistical perspective, the association between registered cases and the actual number of crime incidents may be shaped by confounding multiple factors, such as greater public awareness of child protection laws, improved trust in law enforcement and enhanced access to legal remedies.

Hence, these figures should be viewed as indicative of both the occurrence of crime and the increasing responsiveness of communities and institutions in seeking justice for children, rather than as a simple causal measure of rising crimes, CRY said. PTI UZM RC