‘Crime against children’ rises by 6% in 2024 compared to 2023, over 69000 POCSO cases registered: NCRB

NEW DELHI: With ‘crime against children’ across various categories reflecting a rise of about 6% in 2024 compared to 2023, data shows that of 1.87 lakh cases in 2024, offences under stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act accounted for 69,191 cases (37%), involving 70,132 child victims.

Of these 69,000 plus cases, 44,126 cases, involving 44,567 victims, relate to the law’s heinous crime sections 4 and 6, which define punishments for child sexual assault. While section 4 penalises “penetrative sexual assault” with a minimum of 10 years to life imprisonment, section 6 governs “aggravated penetrative sexual assault”, imposing stricter penalties of 20 years to life or death, particularly for children under 12 years of age.

The gender profile of POCSO victims under these sections shows 43,675 were girls and 892 boys. While 23,368 victims, including 129 boys, were in the 16-18 years age group, 16,801, including 369 boys, were in the 12-16 age group. As many as 3,438 victims, including 351 boys, were between 6 to 12 years. There were 831 victims below six years of age and 43 of them were boys.

The data like in past years yet again reinforces that most often it is a known person who takes advantage of the vulnerability of a child. In cases under sections 4 and 6, data shows that in 96.6% of cases a known person.

In over 22000 cases those involved included friends, online friends or a live-in partner on pretext of marriage. In 16668 cases the offender included family friends, neighbours and employers among other known persons. Family members were involved in 3658 cases. Only in 1492 cases the offender was unknown or unidentified.

DATA BOX on Murder with Rape/Gangrape cases with regards to women

• 2024: 266 cases in this category involving 274 victims were registered.
• States with highest cases: Madhya Pradesh:50; Rajasthan:38; Maharashtra: 24; UP: 23; Telangana: 18
• 2023: Cases of murder with rape/gangrape registered was 230 involving 233 victims.