City crime rate rises; climbs to 2nd spot across categories of offences

Mumbai's crime rate rose by 7.1% in 2024, with significant increases in crimes against women, children, and seniors, particularly due to cyber fraud.

MUMBAI: The National Crime Record Bureau report for 2024, released on Wednesday indicates a worrying trend for the city. While 19 metropoles across India reported an overall decline of total number of offences registered, Mumbai showed an increase of 7.1 percent in the number of crimes registered as compared to 2023.

City crime rate rises; climbs to 2nd spot across categories of offences

In 2023, the city registered 65441 offences but that number rose to 70054 in 2024. The report also showed that while in 2023 the city was placed fifth on most categories in India, by 2024 Mumbai was second only to Delhi in almost all categories of crimes registered, including crimes against women.

However, the report also revealed a decline in what are considered body crimes under the Indian Penal Code, such as murder, robbery, chain snatching, attempt to robbery, extortion, house break-ins. Offences that are termed as serious offences like molestation, sexual harassment, dowry-related killings, rape, cases registered under POCSO showed an uptick.

Crimes against women in the city rose by 5.5 percent, crimes against children grew by 8.5 percent, and cases where juveniles were found in conflict with the law rose by 11 percent. Most concerning was the rise in crimes against senior citizens. That grew by 52.7 per cent in 2024.

This uptick was mostly due to senior citizens being targeted by cyber frauds. Experts HT spoke to say that even though the number of cyber complaints grew manifold, the conversion of those complaints into actual FIRs is still quite low.

“We are paying special attention to cybercrimes which is increasingly the need of the hour, and are taking initiatives to educate senior citizens. We have also conducted several seminars in housing societies to create awareness about cybercrimes like sextortion, cyberstalking, share market frauds that lure people with exorbitant returns,” said an officer from the Mumbai police cyber cell.