Crime in India 2020: Volume-III

The total number of cases reported by the Government Railway Police declined from 99,381 in 2019 to 29,746 in 2020. Maharashtra reported the highest number of such crimes in 2020 at 11,508 cases. However, it witnessed a considerable decline from the 45,341 cases of crimes in railways recorded in 2019.

The total number of crimes registered by the Railway Protection Forces across India was 949,695 in 2019 and 254,636 in 2020.

Across India, a total of 191 cases were reported as crimes against foreigners. The highest number of such crimes were witnessed in Delhi, with 62 cases in 2020.

Most of the cases registered as crimes against foreigners were under theft (52 cases). Out of 248 victims in the 191 registered cases, 50 per cent of the victims were from Asia.

In 2020, 1937 cases were registered as crimes committed in India by foreigners.

Across India, 1,714 cases of trafficking were registered in 2020 as compared to the 2,208 cases recorded in the year 2019. This marked a decrease of 22.4 per cent. The highest number of cases were recorded in Maharashtra (184 cases) and Telangana (184 cases).

Out of the 2,222 victims of trafficking who were below 18 years of age, 1,377 were males and 845 were females. Among the 2,487 victims who are more than 18 years of age, 1,952 were females and 535 were males.

In 2020, 4,680 people were rescued from trafficking by government agencies. Most individuals were rescued from Rajasthan (818 people) and Odisha (764 people).

The most common reason for trafficking in 2020 was prostitution – 1,466 cases recorded across the country. With 1,452 cases, the second most common reason was forced labour, the maximum of which were recorded in Odisha (653 cases) followed by Delhi (205 cases).

A total of 59,262 children (13,566 male, 45,687 female and 9 transgender) were reported missing in 2020. When compared to the 73,885 children reported missing by 2019, the number decreased by 19.8 per cent in the following year.

The year recorded a total of 76 deaths in ‘police custody/lockup’, including those on and not on remand. With 15 deaths, Gujarat recorded the highest number of such deaths.

As per the report, the most common reason for deaths in police custody was “death due to illness/death in hospitals during treatment” – 34 out of the 76 reported deaths. Suicide, on the other hand, was stated as the cause of 31 deaths in custody or lockup.

In 2020, a total of 834,947 notes worth Rs. 921,780,480 were seized as Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN).

Focus and Factoids by Ananya Dhanuka.