The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has released a report on the current state of affairs in states across the country, including Punjab. The statistics from this report have heightened concerns among the public. However, there is a slight relief as well. According to the report, there has been an increase of 10.80% in cases of sexual assault in Punjab. In comparison to 464 cases in 2021, 517 cases have been reported in 2022. It has also come to light that out of these total cases, 514 accused were already known to the victims.
This implies that in 99.4% of the cases, the victims were acquainted with the perpetrators of sexual assault. In contrast, the neighboring state of Haryana witnessed sexual assault incidents with 1,786 women, which is three times more than in Punjab. Additionally, during the year 2022, Punjab recorded 670 cases of homicide, showing a decrease of 7.6% compared to 2021, providing a small relief.
Moreover, there has been a marginal decrease of less than one percent in incidents of theft. In 2021, there were 8,492 theft cases reported in the state, while in 2022, there were 8,418 cases. Similarly, during 2022, Punjab registered 697 cases of cybercrime, as opposed to 551 cases in 2021. This reflects an increase of nearly 23% in a year, considering that in 2020, only 378 cybercrime cases were recorded.
