Average 79 murder cases in India daily in 2019, kids victim in 66% kidnappings: NCRB data

India recorded an average of 79 murder cases daily in 2019, while children constituted almost 66 per cent of total kidnapping and abduction victims during the year, according to a latest government data.

A total of 28,918 cases of murder were registered in 2019, showing a marginal decline of 0.3 per cent over 2018 (29,017 cases), the data compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) showed.

'Dispute' (9,516 cases) was the motive in the highest number of murder cases followed by 'personal vendetta or enmity' (3,833 cases) and 'gain' (2,573 cases), it showed.

The country also recorded a decline of 0.7 per cent in cases of kidnapping and abduction in 2019 over the previous year, even as women and girls were victims in 78.6 per cent of the overall cases.

A total of 1,05,037 such cases with 1,08,025 victims were registered in 2019, down from 1,05,734 cases in 2018, the data showed.

Of the total kidnapping and abduction victims, 23,104 were male and 84,921 female in 2019. Out of the total, 71,264 (15,894 male and 55,370 female) victims were children and 36,761 (7,210 male and 29,551 female) were adults, according to the data.

During 2019, a total of 96,295 kidnapped or abducted persons (22,794 male and 73,501 female) were found, out of which 95,551 were rescued alive, it stated.

In 2019, 2,260 cases of human trafficking were also registered as compared to 2,278 cases in 2018, showing a decrease of 0.8 per cent. A total of 6,616 victims were reported to be trafficked, including 2,914 children and 3,702 adults, the data showed.

Apart from this, 6,571 victims were rescued from the clutches of traffickers. A total of 5,128 persons were arrested in 2,260 cases of trafficking, the NCRB said.

The NCRB, which functions under the Union Home Ministry, is tasked with collecting and analysing crime data as defined by the Indian Penal Code and special and local laws in the country.