An average of 80 murders, 289 kidnappings and 91 rapes were reported daily across India in 2018, according to latest data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

Crimes in India had increased by 1.3 per cent in 2018 over 2017, with the registration of more than 50 lakh cognizable crimes, it said.

Altogether, 50,74,634 cognizable crimes comprising 31,32,954 Indian Penal Code (IPC) crimes and 19,41,680 Special and Local Laws (SLL) crimes were registered in 2018, up from 50,07,044 in 2017.

Cognisable offence

A cognisable offence or case is defined as one that an officer in-charge of a police station may investigate without the order of a magistrate and affect arrest without warrant.

The police have a direct responsibility to take immediate action on the receipt of a complaint or of credible information in such crimes, visit the scene of the crime, investigate the facts, apprehend the offender and arraign him / her before a court of law having jurisdiction over the matter.

Cognisable crimes are broadly categorised as those falling either under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) or Special and Local Laws (SLL).

SLL crimes relate to Arms Act, NDPS Act, UAPA, Gambling Act, Excise Act, Explosive Substances Act, Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, Registration of Foreigners Act, Dowry Prohibition Act, etc.

Non-cognisable offence

Non-cognisable crimes are defined as those that cannot be investigated by police without the order of a competent magistrate. Police does not initiate investigation in non-cognisable crimes except with magisterial permission. First schedule of the CrPC gives the classification of the offences of the IPC into cognisable and non-cognisable categories.

According to the NCRB, though the overall crime numbers show an increase of 1.3 per cent, crime rate per lakh population has come down from 388.6 in 2017 to 383.5 in 2018.

The NCRB, under the ministry of home affairs, is responsible for collecting and analysing crime data as defined by the Indian Penal Code and Special and Local Laws.

Increase in murders and abductions

A total of 29,017 cases of murder were registered during 2018, showing an increase of 1.3 per cent over 2017 (28,653 cases).

‘Disputes’ (9,623 cases) were the motive in the highest number of murder cases, followed by ‘personal vendetta or enmity’ (3,875 cases) and ‘gain’ (2,995 cases), the data stated.

Kidnapping and abduction cases showed a jump of 10.3 per cent in 2018 when 1,05,734 FIRs were registered. In 2017, 95,893 such cases were registered, while the number stood at 88,008 in 2016, the NCRB said.

A total of 1,05,536 (24,665 male and 80,871 female) persons were reported kidnapped or abducted, out of which 63,356 (15,250 male and 48,106 female) were children and 42,180 (9,415 male and 32,765 female) were adults during 2018, the data showed.

During 2018, a total of 92,137 kidnapped or abducted persons (22,755 male and 69,382 female) were recovered out of which 91,709 were recovered alive.

MP tops hall of shame

Madhya Pradesh continued to hold on to the dubious distinction of having the highest number of rape cases registered in the country for the third consecutive year in 2018.

As per the NCRB report, the state accounted for a little over 16 per cent of the country’s total 33,356 rape cases registered in 2018. In 2017, 32,559 rape cases were registered, while in 2016 the number stood at 38,947, the data stated.

The number of cases registered under the ‘crime against women’ category in 2018 was 3,78,277, up from 3,59,849 in 2017 and 3,38,954 in 2016.

Madhya Pradesh was followed by Rajasthan (4,335), Uttar Pradesh (3,946), Maharashtra (2,142) and Chhattisgarh (2,091) in the number of rape cases registered, the report said.

According to the report, as many as 5,433 rape cases, including 54 involving victims below six years of age, were reported in Madhya Pradesh in 2018. In 2016 and 2017 also, the state had topped the chart in terms of the number of rape cases.

But the number of rape cases registered in 2018 is smaller as compared to 2017, when 5,562 cases were reported in the state.

As per the data provided by the Madhya Pradesh Prosecution Department, courts in the state had awarded capital punishment to convicts in 18 cases of rapes against minors in 2018.

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