Average 80 murders, 91 rapes daily in 2018: NCRB data

An average of 80 murders, 289 kidnappings and 91 rapes were reported every single day across the country in 2018, according to the latest data by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

Altogether, 50,74,634 cognizable crimes comprising 31,32,954 Indian Penal Code (IPC) crimes and 19,41,680 Special and Local Laws (SLL) crimes were registered in 2018, up from 50,07,044 in 2017, the data stated.

A cognizable offence or case is defined as the one which an officer incharge of a police station may investigate without the order of a magistrate and effect arrest without warrant.

A total of 29,017 cases of murder were registered during 2018, showing an increase of 1.3 per cent over 2017 (28,653 cases).

'Disputes' (9,623 cases) were the motive in highest number of murder cases during the year followed by 'personal vendetta or enmity' (3,875 cases) and 'gain' (2,995 cases), the data stated.

Kidnapping and abduction cases showed a jump of 10.3 per cent in 2018 when 1,05,734 FIRs were registered. In 2017, 95,893 such cases were registered, while the number stood at 88,008 in 2016, the NCRB said.

A total of 1,05,536 (24,665 male and 80,871 female) persons were reported kidnapped or abducted, out of which 63,356 (15,250 male and 48,106 female) were children and 42,180 (9,415 male and 32,765 female) were adult during 2018, the data showed.

During 2018, a total of 92,137 kidnapped or abducted persons (22,755 male and 69,382 female) were recovered out of which 91,709 were recovered alive and 428 persons were dead, according to the NCRB.

The number of cases registered under the 'crime against women' category in 2018 was 3,78,277, up from 3,59,849 in 2017 and 3,38,954 in 2016. The number of rape cases, as defined in IPC section 376, were 33,356 in 2018.

In 2017, 32,559 rape cases were registered, while in 2016 the number stood at 38,947, the data stated.

According to the NCRB, though the overall crime numbers show an increase of 1.3 per cent in registration of cases over 2017 (50,07,044 cases), crime rate per lakh population has come down from 388.6 in 2017 to 383.5 in 2018.

The NCRB, under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, is responsible for collecting and analysing crime data as defined by the Indian Penal Code and special and local laws in the country.