Crimes against SCs, STs rose in '20; UP, MP top charts: NCRB

New Delhi: Crimes against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes continued to rise in 2020, with maximum cases of offences against the communities being registered in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, according to latest government data. Last year, 50,291 cases were registered for crimes committed against Scheduled Castes (SCs), an increase of 9.4 per cent over 2019 (45,961 cases). The crime rate had increased from 22.8 per lakh population to 25 per lakh population in 2020, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) stated.

The NCRB data stated that 16,543 cases of "simple hurt" formed the largest chunk of cases of crimes or atrocities against SCs during 2020. It was followed by cases under the SC/ST Act and cases under criminal intimidation

, it said. The data showed that another 3,372 cases were lodged for rape, 3,373 for assault on women with intent to outrage modesty, 855 for murder and 1,119 for attempted murder.

A total of 8,272 cases were registered for committing crime against Scheduled Tribes (STs), showing an increase of 9.3 per cent over 2019 (7,570 cases). The crime rate registered increased from 7.3 per lakh population in 2019 to 7.9 per lakh population in 2020, the NCRB, which functions under the Union home ministry, stated. It showed that during 2020, simple hurt cases (2,247) formed the highest number of cases of crimes or atrocities against STs accounting for 27.2 per cent of cases, followed by rape with 1,137 cases and assault on women with intent to outrage her modesty with 885 cases.

In 2018, the country had recorded 42,793 cases of crimes against SCs and 45,961 in 2019, with Uttar Pradesh topping the charts among states and Union Territories in both the years, the data showed. Among states and UTs, the highest of 12,714 cases of crimes against SCs in 2020 were from Uttar Pradesh followed by 7,368 in Bihar, 7,017 in Rajasthan, 6,899 in MP and 2,569 in Maharashtra, it showed.