India registered 6.24 million cognisable crimes in 2023, a 7.2 per cent rise from the previous year, according to the National Crime Records Bureau’s (NCRB) Crime in India 2023 report released on Monday.
On average, one crime was logged every five seconds.
While the overall surge was driven by cyber offences and atrocities against Scheduled Tribes, the report makes clear that women remain especially vulnerable.
More than a year after the RG Kar horror shook Kolkata and sparked nationwide outrage, the latest NCRB figures show that little has changed for women across India’s states in the past few years.
Despite public anger and promises of reform, the numbers show women remain exposed to violence both within homes and outside, their vulnerability continuing to define the country’s crime charts.
Crimes against women cross 4.48 lakh
Close to 4.5 lakh crimes against women were recorded in 2023, up from 4,45,256 in 2022 and 4,28,278 in 2021.
The national crime rate for women stood at 66.2 per lakh female population, based on mid-year projections.
The largest share of these cases was for cruelty by husband or relatives under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code, which accounted for 1,33,676 cases (29.8 per cent). This was followed by kidnapping and abduction of women (88,605 cases, 19.8 per cent), assault on women with intent to outrage modesty (83,891 cases, 18.7 per cent), and rape (29,670 cases, 4.4 per cent).
Cases of dowry deaths (6,156), abetment to suicide (4,825), and insult to modesty (8,823) were also documented. Rape cases involved 28,821 adult women and 849 girls below 18, with 2,796 attempts to rape and 113 acid attacks additionally reported.
State-wise picture
Among states, Uttar Pradesh reported the highest number of cases against women at 66,381, followed by Maharashtra (47,101), Rajasthan (45,450), West Bengal (34,691) and Madhya Pradesh (32,342).
In terms of crime rate, Telangana topped the list at 124.9 incidents per lakh female population, followed by Rajasthan (114.8), Odisha (112.4), Haryana (110.3) and Kerala (86.1).
The overall chargesheet rate for crimes against women was 77.6 per cent.
Crimes under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) reached 66,232 cases (14.8 per cent of total crimes against women).
These included 40,046 cases of child rape, 22,149 cases of sexual assault, 2,778 of sexual harassment, 698 of child pornography, and 513 under other provisions of the law.
Cyber crimes and ST atrocities drive overall rise
One of the most striking findings of the NCRB report is the surge in cyber crimes, which rose 31.2 per cent to 86,420 cases. Nearly 69 per cent of these were linked to fraud.
Crimes against Scheduled Tribes (STs) also spiked by 28.8 per cent, with 12,960 cases in 2023 compared to 10,064 in 2022.
The steepest increase came from Manipur, which, amid ongoing ethnic violence, reported 3,399 cases against STs, up from just one case in 2022 and none in 2021. These included 260 dacoities, 1,051 arson incidents, 203 intimidation cases, and 193 land disputes.
Crimes against Scheduled Castes (SCs) rose 0.4 per cent, reaching 57,789 cases.