An administrative agency called National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) gathers and investigates crime information as characterized in the Indian Penal Code (IPC). As a part of India’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), NCRB has its central command in New Delhi.
Established in 1986, the NCRB’s central goal is to fill in as a centre for data about crimes and guilty parties to help experts in following crooks. It includes the Directorate of Coordination and Police Computer (DCPC) with BPR&D’s Statistical Branch, CBI’s Inter-State Criminals Data Branch, and CBI’s Central Fingerprint Bureau, as suggested by a task force and by the National Police Commission.
It depends on various objectives:
- The creation and maintenance of secure and shareable national crime and criminal data sets for law enforcement and the advancement of their utilization for the arrangement of national administrations.
- Collection and preparation of crime stats at the national level and clearinghouse for data on crime and criminals at national and global levels.
- Leading and organizing the improvement of IT applications and establishing a positive IT climate for law authorization offices.
- Formation of a national registry of fingerprints for all criminals.
The National Crime Records Bureau (NCBR) stated that 3,71,503 cases of wrongdoing against women were accounted for in 2020, addressing an 8.3 % decrease over 2019 (4,05,326 cases). Thus, crimes against women in the capital diminished by 24% in 2020, compared with 2019.
As per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCBR), the absolute number of crimes against women reported in 2020 tumbled to 9,782 cases from 12,902 out of 2019. Assaults against ladies were 938 in 2020 from 1,088 out of 2019, and sexual harassment remained at 862 cases in 2020 against 644 out of 2019. An aggregate of 967 cases of assault was accounted for in 2020 against 1,231 in 2019, a decrease of 21%. Stalking likewise saw a 40% drop, with 235 cases announced in 2020 contrasted with 388 the prior year.
A total of 35,331 crimes against women was recorded throughout the 19 metropolitan cities in 2020, a 21.1% decrease from 2019 (44,783 cases). Most of the crimes against women were classified as ‘Cruelty by Husband or His Relatives’ (30.0%), followed by ‘Assault on Women with Intent to Outrage her Modesty’ (23.0%), ‘Kidnapping & Abduction of Women’ (16.8%) and ‘Rape’ (7.5%). In 2020, the crime rate per lakh women population was 56.5, compared to 62.3 in 2019.
“The NCRB gives data only about the crimes that have been reported. And while these may have reduced due to the lockdown, it is also possible that women were unable to report crimes, especially domestic violence, properly. Just because reporting has reduced, it does not imply that crimes have also reduced. The world over, a trend was seen last year of domestic violence increasing during the lockdown. Further, the recent rapes in the capital have only shown how the brutality of crimes against women and girls has significantly increased,” Hindustan Times quoted Swati Maliwal, Chairperson, Delhi Commission for Women, as saying.
