Crime in India
overview of crime in India
Crime in India has been recorded since the British Raj, with comprehensive statistics now compiled annually by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), under the Ministry of Home Affairs (India).
In 2023, a total of 62,41,569 crimes, comprising 37,63,102 Indian Penal Code (IPC) crimes and 24,78,467 Special and Local Laws (SLL) crimes were registered nationwide. The crime rate is 448.3 in 2023, highest in the previous three years. In 2023, offences affecting the human body contributed 31.5%, offences against property contributed 23.3%, and miscellaneous IPC crimes contributed 30.3% of all cognizable IPC crimes. Murder rate was 2.0 per 100,000, kidnapping rate was 8.2 per 100,000, and rape rate was 4.4 per 100,000 in 2023.
According to the UN, the homicide rate was 2.95 per 100,000 in 2020 with 40,651 recorded, down from a peak of 5.46 per 100,000 in 1992 and essentially unchanged since 2017, higher than most countries in Asia and Europe and lower than most in the Americas and Africa although numerically one of the highest due to the large population.
The percentage of IPC cases pending investigation at the end of 2023 was 29.2%. Charge-sheet rate is calculated as all cases where charges were framed as a percentage of total cases disposed after investigation. The charge-sheet rate of IPC crimes in India was 72.7% in 2023. Conviction rate is calculated as all cases where accused was convicted by court after completion of a trial, as a percentage of total cases where trial was completed.
The public source identifies “Crime in India” as overview of crime in India. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Crime, India and overview.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Crime in India”, the useful work is to connect “overview of crime in India” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3306146. The first chronological checks are 2023, 2020, 1992 and 2017.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Crime in India”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Crime in India primary sources, Crime in India archive and Crime research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Crime in India”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Crime in India” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.