8% jump in violent crimes in Himachal, reveals NCRB data
As per the latest edition of the National Crime Records Bureau’s (NCRB) Crime in India report released on Monday, the state reported a total of 19,053 crime incidents under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Special Acts and Local Laws (SLL), slightly up compared to 18,833 incidents reported last year
Otherwise considered a peaceful state, Himachal Pradesh has witnessed an uptick of nearly 8% in violent crimes while the overall crimes too were on the rise.
As per the latest edition of the National Crime Records Bureau’s (NCRB) Crime in India report released on Monday, the state reported a total of 19,053 crime incidents under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Special Acts and Local Laws (SLL), slightly up compared to 18,833 incidents reported last year.
However, the rate of crime (crime incidence per 100,000 population) has decreased from 254.3% in 2021 to 177.8% in 2022.
The NCRB’s violent crime category includes murder, attempted murder, culpable homicide, attempted culpable homicide, dowry deaths, infanticide, foeticide, grievous hurt, kidnapping and abduction, rape, attempt to rape, rioting, robbery, dacoity and arson.
As per the report, the state reported 85 murders in 2022 as against 86 murders in 2021, thus a slight decrease of around 1%.
There was an increase in cases of culpable homicide (not amounting to murder) with 11 cases reported across the state. In the previous year, eight such cases were registered. There was a spike of 7% in cases of attempted murders and 11% in cases of grievous hurt.
Dip in crime against women
On the whole, crimes against women dipped by 3%. A total of 1,651 crimes against women were reported across the state. In 2021, the number was 1,599. The rate of crime against women dropped from 43.3% in 2021 to 42.3% in 2022.
The rape cases were up slightly in the state with 359 incidents involving 369 victims. In the previous year, 358 incidents involving 360 victims were reported. Two cases of rape and murder were also reported while no such case was reported in 2021.
Most rape victims in 12-16 years age group
Statistics revealed that of the 369 rape victims, 223 (60%) were minors and 146 (40%) were of age above 18 years of age.
Data shows that 10 victims were below six years of age; 22 between 6 and 12 years old; 95 from 12-16 years old and 96 between 16 and 18 years.
Among 135 adult victims, 109 were between 18 and 30 years old, 32 were between 30 and 45 and five were between 45 and 60 years of age.
In 98.9% of cases, the offenders were known to the victims. Of the 359 cases, 31 of the perpetrators were family members. 221 cases involved friends, online friends, live-in partners, on the pretext of marriage and separated husbands. In 103 cases, they were family, friends, neighbours, employers, or other known persons. Offenders were unknown to victims in only four cases.
Crime against children was static with 740 cases reported in 2022 and the rate of crime was 34.4%. In 2021, too, 740 cases of crime against children were reported in Himachal.