Statsguru: 6 charts explain how pandemic led to rise in crime rate in India

Delhi had the highest crime rate among metropolises of 1,859 crimes per 100,000-four times the national average-but had the lowest chargesheeting rate of 34.1%

The Covid-19 pandemic affected economic activity and increased poverty. The latest data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) shows that it also increased crime. NCRB data shows that crime incidence increased 30.4 per cent in 2020 compared to 2019. In 2021, the crime rate declined but was still higher than pre-Covid levels (chart 1). 

Police action also caught up as the crime rate increased. The number of cases where a charge sheet was filed steadily declined till 2019, but rose 8.6 percentage points in 2020. Although it dropped to 72.3 per cent in 2021, it was still higher than pre-Covid levels (chart 2).

Convictions, on the other hand, have risen consistently. And Covid provided a further spurt with a near-7 percentage point increase in 2021 compared to 2019 (chart 3). Although convictions have risen, pendency is also growing. In 2021, 91.2 per cent of cases were pending trial, compared to 88.9 per cent in 2019 (chart 4).

Further analysis of data shows that the overall conviction rate of 57 per cent may be misleading. For instance, in cases of crimes against women, the conviction rate of 25.2 per cent was less than half the overall conviction rate; it was 42.5 per cent for cyber crimes and 33.4 per cent for crimes against children (chart 5). 

Offences against the state had a higher convic­tion rate than most other categories. The crime incidence across cities varied as well. Delhi had the highest rate among metropolises with 1,859 crimes per 100,000 — four times the national average — but had the lowest charge sheet rate of 34.1 per cent.

On the other end, Ahmedabad had the highest charge sheet rate of 97.8 per cent. The financial capital Mumbai had a crime rate of 428 per 100,000 and a charge sheet rate of 86.2 per cent (chart 6).