NEW DELHI: Delhi is the most unsafe for senior citizens among all metropolitan cities in India accounting for over 27 per cent of total crimes committed against people aged 60 years and above in these cities, according to the latest NCRB data. After Delhi, Mumbai also reported a high number of crimes against senior citizens (987). A total of 4,264 cases of various crimes against senior citizens were reported in 19 metropolitan cities in 2021.
Moreover, the national capital has also witnessed a 28.69 per cent surge in crime against senior citizens in 2021 as compared to the previous year with 1,166 cases registered by the police, the data showed. In 2020, 906 crimes against senior citizens were reported in the national capital. The charge sheet rate in cases involving such people is also quite low in Delhi at 31.5 per cent.
Among crimes against senior citizens, theft is most common with 659 cases in Delhi in 2021, followed by cheating and fraud (153). In 2021, Delhi Police investigated 2,318 cases of crimes against senior citizens, out of which 1,152 were pending investigation from the previous year, NCRB data shows. Experts believe that higher reporting of such cases and zero sensitisation for the needs of elders might be the reasons for the high crime rate against the elderly in Delhi.