CHENNAI: The Crime in India report of National Crime Records Bureau for 2023, released after over a year’s delay, showed that cases filed for crimes against children and crimes against Dalits under the Scheduled Castes/ Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act increased noticeably in Tamil Nadu in 2023 compared to the year before.
However, the number of murder cases and other violent crimes, which is one of the key indicators of law and order, witnessed a decline in the same period. In terms of overall crime rate, Tamil Nadu stood at 264.9 per lakh population while that of India was 270.3 per lakh population.
Cases filed under SC / ST (PoA) Act rose by 9.1% from 1,761 in 2022 to 1,921 in 2023. Over a five-year period from 2019 to 2023, the cases filed under the act has sharply increased by 68%. The number of cases stood at 1,144 in 2019, 1,294 in 2020, 1,377 in 2021, before recording a sharp spike of 27.9% in 2022.
The number of cases registered for crimes against children also increased, rising from 6,580 in 2022 to 6,968 in 2023. The figure in 2021 stood at 6,064 cases. In Chennai, cases of crimes against children saw an increase from 514 to 573.
Meanwhile, cases registered for crimes against women decreased from 9,207 in 2022 to 8,943 in 2023. The number of murder cases saw a slight decline in Tamil Nadu, with 1,681 cases registered in 2023 compared to 1,690 in 2022. However, Chennai reported a marginal increase, from 101 cases in 2022 to 105 in 2023.
Overall, violent crimes, including murder, culpable homicide not amounting to murder, infanticide, attempt to murder, and grievous hurt, also declined from 12,325 cases in 2022 to 11,302 in 2023. Similarly, kidnapping and abduction cases dropped significantly, from 737 in 2022 to 496 in 2023.
Crimes against senior citizens also decreased from 2,376 in 2022 to 2,104 in 2023. The state ranked fourth in the country for crimes against senior citizens. While overall cases have fallen compared to the previous year, Chennai saw a slight increase, with cases rising from 391 to 399. As far as crimes committed by juveniles is concerned, the cases has increased from 2,607 in 2022 to 2,999 in 2023. Meanwhile, cyber crimes, cases registered by the Railway Protection Force and cases filed by the state have also risen compared to previous years.