Crime in India 2019: Volume-I

The report states that 5,156,172 cognizable crimes were registered in the country during the year 2019, increasing by 1.6 per cent since the year 2018. About 3,225,700 of these were offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 1,930,471 were offences under Special and Local Laws (SLL).

The crime rate in the country – calculated on the basis of per lakh population – also increased marginally from 383.5 per lakh people in 2018 to 385.5 per lakh in 2019.

Metropolitan cities in India recorded a total of 860,960 cognizable crimes in 2019 – a 7.3 per cent increase from 2018, which recorded 802,267 cases. In 2019, there were a total of 604,897 IPC and 256,063 SLL cases.

India reported 405,861 cases of crimes against women in the year 2019 – a rise of 7.3 per cent since 2018. Metropolitan cities in particular noted a 7.8 per cent increase.

The majority of cases registered as crimes against women were for cruelty by their husband or his relatives (30.9 per cent), assault ‘with intent to outrage modesty’ (21.8 per cent), kidnapping and abduction (17.9 per cent) and rape (7.9 per cent).

As many as 7,569 offences against the State – ranging from unlawful assembly to rioting –  were registered in the year 2019. About 80 per cent of these – 6,079 cases – were registered under the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984, followed by the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, which had 1,226 cases under it.

The year 2019 recorded a total of 148,185 crimes against children, marking an increase of 4.5 per cent over 2018, when 141,764 such cases were registered.

At the all-India level, the largest share of IPC crimes were registered in the states of Uttar Pradesh (353,131 cases) followed by Maharashtra (341,084 cases). On the other hand, with 123 cases, Lakshadweep recorded the lowest number of IPC crimes in the country, followed by Dadra and Nagar Haveli (226 cases).

Gujarat reported the highest number (291,563 cases) of SLL crimes across India, accounting for 15.1 per cent of the total crimes. This was followed by Kerala, which recorded 277,273 such cases – 14.4 per cent of India’s SLL offences. With 48 and 64 cases, Daman and Diu followed by Dadra and Nagar Haveli  recorded the lowest number of SLL cases.

With 3,138 registered murder cases in 2019, Bihar recorded the highest number of cases in the category across states. It had a crime rate – specifically relating to murder – of 2.6 per lakh population. Despite having the same crime rate (murder) as Bihar, Sikkim registered the lowest number of cases in the category (17).

Jharkhand recorded the highest crime rate for murders, at 4.3 per lakh population. Kerala and Jammu and Kashmir had the lowest rates in this category, at 0.9 per lakh people .

In 2019, Maharashtra recorded the highest number of crimes against children at 19,592 cases, while Lakshadweep recorded the only 26. Among the metropolitan cities, Delhi recorded 7,565 cases of crimes against children – the highest among all the 19 cities considered in this report. On the other hand, Coimbatore recorded only 45 such cases.