New Delhi, Dec 04: Nearly two women were targeted by criminals every hour in Delhi in 2022 which also registered a substantial increase in the number of cybercrime cases, the latest NCRB data showed.
The national capital saw close to three lakh criminal cases, an increase of 3.3 per cent, in 2022 in comparison to 2021, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
A total of 2,98,988 cases were registered in Delhi under the Indian Penal Code in 2022 against 2,89,045 in 2021, the annual crime report said.
Cases of cybercrime in the national capital nearly doubled in 2022. The number of such cases rose from 345 in 2021 to 685 in 2022. The count was much lower at 166 in 2020, it added.
Delhi recorded the highest number of crimes against women among the 19 metropolitan cities in India last year.
The national capital reported 14,158 cases of crimes against women in 2022 — the highest among the metros — followed by 6,176 in Mumbai and 3,924 in Bengaluru.
In 2022, crimes against women in Delhi witnessed a 1.25 per cent increase from 13,982 in 2021, the data showed. The city had registered 9,782 such cases in 2020.
In 2022, a woman was allegedly abducted, gang-raped and paraded by her attackers on the streets of east Delhi’s Kasturba Nagar with her hair chopped, her face blackened and a shoe garland around her neck.
The incident, which was a fallout of personal enmity, had highlighted the vulnerability of women in the national capital.
The NCRB data showed Delhi recorded 1,204 rape cases in 2022. It also reported 129 dowry death cases.
Sixteen cases of murder due to sordid love affairs were reported in the national capital in 2022.
The cases included the sensational murder of Shradha Walkar whose live-in partner, Aaftab Amin Poonawala, allegedly strangled her on May 18 last year, sawed her body into several pieces, which he kept in a refrigerator for almost three weeks at his residence in south Delhi’s Mehrauli.
The national capital topped the list of road crash fatalities with 2,103 people losing their lives in 2022, according to the report.
According to the ‘Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India 2022’ report, Delhi accounted for the highest number of road accidents in the country — 5,387.
Kidnapping of minors also saw an increase of 2 per cent in the national capital with the majority of victims belonging to the 12-18 age group, the data showed.
The number of girls kidnapped in 2022 was more than twice that of male abductions in the 12-18 age group, according to the data. Kidnapping cases rose from 5,475 cases in 2021 to 5,585 in 2022. The NCRB said 4,011 cases were reported in 2020.
The NCRB said, 2,659 teenagers — 1,888 girls and 771 boys — in the 12-16 age group were kidnapped in 2022. In the 16-18 age group, 2,245 teens, of which 569 were males and 1,676 females, were kidnapped last year.
In the 6-12 age group, 315 boys and 260 girls were kidnapped in 2022, while 66 boys and 45 girls were kidnapped in the 0-6 age group.
The national capital also recorded 3,909 incidents of kidnapping or abduction of women in the year.
The data showed 2,436 criminal cases reported in Delhi in 2022 were found to be committed by minors, followed by Chennai where juveniles were involved in 521 criminal cases.
