Kidnapping cases high, chargesheeting low in Bengaluru: NCRB

By contrast, South Indian states have a much higher record

Bengaluru recorded 1,203 kidnapping and abduction cases in 2023, but registered a chargesheeting rate of only 3.8 per cent, the lowest among metropolitan cities, a report from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) shows.

Karnataka as a whole reported a kidnapping and abduction rate of 5.5 per cent and a chargesheeting rate of 6.9 per cent— among the lowest in the country, second only to Sikkim at 2.4 per cent.

By contrast, South Indian states recorded much higher chargesheeting rates: Tamil Nadu 39.7 per cent, Telangana 33.7 per cent, Andhra Pradesh 69.6 per cent, and Kerala 93.5 per cent.

Despite Bengaluru recording a 13.6 per cent rate of abduction and kidnapping, its chargesheeting rate stood at only 3.8 per cent. Mumbai registered 7.4 per cent, while Delhi, Hyderabad, and Kolkata recorded 6.6 per cent, 17.4 per cent, and 100 per cent, respectively.

Of the 1,203 cases in Bengaluru, 1,139 victims were children. This included 23 below six years; 17 aged between 6 and 12; 487 aged between 12 and 16; and 558 between 16 and 18 years.

Among these victims, 771 were female and 368 were male.

The report said of the remaining 64 adult victims, 49 were male and 15 female.

No kidnapping or abduction cases involving transgender adults were reported in 2023.

It added that 1,112 victims of kidnapping and abduction had been recovered, while 1,310 victims remained missing — 854 of them female.