E-Paper
NCRB report 2021: Punjab’s overall crimes dip but those against children up
NCRB statistics show a 20% jump in cognisable crimes against children in 2021 compared to the previous year, making them vulnerable. In the year gone by, 2,556 cases of crimes against children were registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and special Acts and local laws (SLL) as compared to 2,121 cases reported in 2020
Punjab saw a dip of 11% in overall crimes in 2021 compared to 2020, but children are not safe as there has been an increase in crimes against them, according to the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report that was released on Monday.
NCRB statistics show a 20% jump in cognisable crimes against children in 2021 compared to the previous year, making them vulnerable. In the year gone by, 2,556 cases of crimes against children were registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and special Acts and local laws (SLL) as compared to 2,121 cases reported in 2020. Consequently, the rate of crime against children – number of crimes committed per lakh population, has also shot up to 29.2 in 2021 from 24.3 in the preceding year, according to the ‘Crime in India’ report. The total number of crimes against children in all 28 states was 1,40,839.
An analysis of data on crimes against children in Punjab shows a decline in the number of murders of children from 44 in 2020 to 39 in 2021, murder with rape from four to three and foeticide cases from 11 to nine. There has been, however, a sharp rise in kidnappings and abductions of children. Against 1,032 incidents involving 1,080 victims in 2020, 1,440 incidents of kidnapping and abduction of a total 1,450 children were reported last year. Of these, 1,372 victims, or say 94%, were minor girls who were abducted to compel them for marriage compared to 984 in 2020 – an increase of 388. As per the NCRB data, a total of 751 cases of sexual offenses against children were registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. Another worrying trend is the growing use of material depicting children in sexually explicit acts. Under the Information Technology Act, 56 cases of cybercrime were registered last year for publishing or transmitting such material. Their number was just eight in 2020.
The rise in crimes against children has come even when there has been a drop in overall crimes in the state. NCRB report-2021 shows that 73,581 cases were registered under various sections of IPC and SLL, down 11% from 82,875 cases in 2020. The total IPC cases stood at 46,454 whereas 27,127 were reported under SLL. Among serious crimes, the number of murder and attempt to murder cases has dropped in 2021 as compared to previous year. Against 757 murder cases with 882 victims, 723 cases in which 763 persons got killed were lodged last year. Attempt-to-murder cases were also down to 926 in 2021 from 961 in 2020. There was an increase in incidents of rape and attempt to rape. In 2021, 508 women were raped in Punjab as compared to 504 in 2020. Rape attempt cases also rose to 60 from 53 in years under comparison.
