Cybercrimes against women, children cross 9.5 lakh in 5 years: Govt data

Cybercrimes against women and children reported on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal have crossed 9.54 lakh in the past five years, with 2025 recording the highest yearly figures, according to data tabled in the Rajya Sabha.

Incidents under online and social media-related crimes jumped from 72,301 in 2021 to 1,73,766 in 2025—an increase of over 140 per cent. Overall, complaints averaged about 524 a day, or nearly two every five minutes, underscoring the scale of the problem.

Cases involving sexual content—including child sexual abuse material (CSAM), rape-related content and obscene material—also peaked in 2025 at 76,657, after a dip in 2023. Within this, rape-related abusive content fell sharply from 30,574 in 2022 to 4,261 in 2024, before rising again to 8,780 in 2025, a trend not explained in the government’s reply.

The steepest rise was seen in CSAM cases, which grew nearly five-fold from 2,109 in 2021 to 10,431 in 2025. Fake and impersonation profiles nearly tripled, while cyberbullying, stalking and sexting complaints more than doubled. Profile hacking and identity theft cases peaked in 2024 before easing slightly the following year.

Govt steps up response

The Ministry of Home Affairs said it has released ₹132.93 crore under the Cyber Crime Prevention against Women and Children (CCPWC) scheme, setting up cyber forensic-cum-training labs across 33 states and Union Territories and training over 24,600 personnel.

The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, which runs the portal, also operates a Cyber Fraud Mitigation Centre and the CyTrain platform. As of January 31, 2026, more than 1.51 lakh police and judicial officers had registered, with over 1.42 lakh certificates issued.

Complaints rise with enforcement

The Samanvaya platform has helped arrest 21,857 accused and processed over 1.49 lakh investigation requests, while the National Digital Investigation Support Centre in New Delhi has assisted in more than 13,400 cases so far.

The data points to a dual trend—rising cybercrime incidents alongside expanded reporting and enforcement efforts.