NEW DELHI: Two minor girls were raped every day last year in the national capital, which was the most unsafe metropolitan city for women across the country, according to the latest report of NCRB.
Delhi also recorded 13,892 cases of crimes against women in 2021, a significant surge of more than 40% compared to 2020 when the figure was 9,782, the data showed.
The cases of crimes against women in Delhi accounted for 32.20 per cent of total crimes in the category among all 19 metropolitan cities, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data.
Delhi was followed by the financial capital Mumbai, which saw 5,543 such instances, and Bengaluru with 3,127 cases.
Mumbai and Bengaluru accounted for 12.76 per cent and 7.2 per cent of total crimes in 19 cities, respectively.
The national capital has also reported the highest number of cases of crimes against women in the categories related to kidnapping (3948), cruelty by husbands (4674) and girl child rapes (833) as compared to other metropolitan cities with over two million population in 2021.
On average, over two girls were raped every day in Delhi in 2021, the data showed.
The national capital registered 13,982 cases of crimes against women in 2021, while the total crimes in all 19 metropolitan cities were 43,414, according to the report.
The capital has registered 136 cases of dowry death in 2021, which is 36.26 per cent of total deaths due to the menace in 19 metropolitan cities.
The city also reported 3,948 cases of abduction and kidnapping of women, out of a total of 8,664 cases in all metropolitan cities.
Delhi also reported 2,022 cases of assault on women with intent to outrage their modesty last year.
There were 1,357 reported cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (girl child victims only) in 2021, the NCRB said.
As many as 833 cases of girl child rape, the highest among the metropolitan cities, were reported in 2021, as per the data.
The national capital also recorded the highest number of kidnapping cases among the 19 metropolitan cities last year.
The national capital registered a marginal decline in the number of murder cases.
It reported 454 cases of murder in 2021 as compared to 461 in 2020 and 500 in 2019, according to the report.
A majority of the murders recorded in the national capital in 2021 were the fallout of various disputes, including those related to property and family.
In 23 cases, the bloodshed was due to a love affair gone wrong and 12 killings were over illicit relationships, according to the NCRB data.
The motive behind 87 of these murders was personal vendetta or enmity, while 10 killings were due to personal gain.
There was no murder in the national capital last year due to dowry, witchcraft, child/human sacrifice and for communal, religious or caste reasons.
During dacoity and robbery, the national capital witnessed 20 murders.
As many as 177 murders were reported due to various disputes related to property, family and petty quarrels.
One of the high-profile murders that made headlines last year was that of former junior national wrestling champion Sagar Dhankar.
Two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar, along with others, allegedly assaulted Dhankar and his friends at the Chhatrasal Stadium in May 2021 over an alleged property dispute.
Dhankar later succumbed to his injuries.
The national capital witnessed the highest number of kidnapping in 2020 at 5,475 as against 4,011 the previous year.
The police managed to rescue 5,274 kidnapped people, including 3689 women.
Seventeen of the kidnapped people, including eight women, were found dead, according to the data.
The national capital in 2021 witnessed a 111 per cent increase in the cyber crimes as compared to the previous year with the NCRB data citing sexual exploitation to be the motive behind maximum number of cases.
According to the National Crime records Bureau data for the year 2021, most of these cases involved online fraud, online harassment, publication of explicit content etc.
The increase comes despite the Delhi Police having a separate wing for cyber crime as well as a social media centre Over 356 cases of cyber crime were reported last year in which most of the offenders were booked for publication and transmission of sexually explicit content.
An analysis of the data showed that common motives for the crimes were fraud, sexual exploitation, and extortion.
Most of the complainants were women or minors aged between 12-17.
"We have been registering more cases online after COVID. We have seen an increase in financial fraud and sextortion cases," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Cyber Crime) KPS Malhotra said.
"We not only take cases from complaints but also take cognisance of social media posts," he said.
West Bengal reported 82 cases of counterfeit bank and currency notes last year, the highest in the country, according to the latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
Assam was at the second spot, reporting 75 cases, while Tamil Nadu was at the third spot with 62 cases.
Among other states, Maharashtra reported 55 cases, Rajasthan reported 54 cases and Uttar Pradesh reported 42 cases, according to the report.
In all, India reported 639 cases of counterfeit bank and currency notes in 2021.
This was not the first time that West Bengal, which shares international boundaries with Bangladesh and Nepal, reported the highest number of such cases.
However, in 2021, the number of cases declined.
In 2019, the state reported 208 cases of counterfeit bank and currency notes and in 2020, it was at 109.