New Delhi: Crime against senior citizens increased substantially in 2024, with recorded cases up nearly 17 percent over the previous year, says the latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
The number of crimes against Scheduled Tribes (ST) decreased by 23 percent during the same period, according to the data for 2024. The number of crimes registered for offences affecting tribals was 9,966 across all states and Union Territories, down from 12,960 cases in 2023.
Overall, the number of criminal cases reported across states and Union Territories dipped by nearly six percent, with 58.85 lakh cases reported in 2024, compared to 62.41 lakh in 2023, according to the NCRB data.
Among states reporting crimes against senior citizens, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra were the worst-performing, with 5,875 and 4,918 cases, respectively. These states have been consistently poor performers on this metric over the last three years—since 2022—with Madhya Pradesh reporting 6,187 and 5,738 cases in 2022 and 2023, respectively. Maharashtra, on the other hand, reported 5,059 and 5,115 cases under the same head in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
Overall, states reported 31,067 cases of crime against Indian citizens aged 60 and above in 2024, compared to 26,306 in 2023. Among metropolitan cities, the national capital was the worst performer, with 1,267 cases, while Mumbai came a distant second, reporting 791 cases related to senior citizens in 2024. Kolkata was the best performer in this metric among metropolitan cities under this category, reporting just one case.
Madhya Pradesh was the worst performer in the metric related to crime against STs as well, reporting as many as 3,165 cases. Rajasthan was second with 2,282 cases. Maharashtra, with a sizeable tribal population, reported 830 cases in 2024, while Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand reported 387 and 260 cases, respectively.
Rent by civil conflict for three years, Manipur was the worst-performing state in this metric in 2024, reporting 3,399 cases in 2023. The situation has improved, however, with 289 cases against tribals in the state where periodic sectarian clashes have become business as usual.
Crime amounting to murder rose by 2.4 percent in 2024, with 27,049 cases reported in 2024. The number of cases related to abduction or kidnapping decreased by 15 percent, from 1,13,564 in 2023 to 96,079 in 2024.
(Edited by Nardeep Singh Dahiya)
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