Maharashtrasaw a 196% rise in cyber offences against children from 2019 to 2020, making it displace UP nationally in this crime metric as the number one state. Worryingly, just one person was convicted in the country out of 116 arrested for cyberstalking children in 2020, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
Maharashtra, with 207 cases of cybercrime against minors in 2020, is followed by UP (197), Karnataka (144), Kerala (126), Odisha (71), and Andhra Pradesh (52). Nationally, a 261% rise in cyber offences against children was registered in 2020.
According to the NCRB’s 2020 report, 50,035 cyber offences across all categories were registered in the country, up from 44,546 in 2019. A total of 18,420 persons were arrested and 18,189 charge-sheeted, but only 1,369 convicted. In Maharashtra, 1,735 were arrested and 1,238 charge-sheeted, while only two were convicted. In Mumbai, 450 people were arrested for cyber offences, though 223 were charge-sheeted and just two convicted.