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Close acquaintances accounted for 96.6 per cent of child sexual abuse cases registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in 2024, according to the latest data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

The NCRB’s ‘Crime in India 2024’ report recorded 44,126 cases under Sections 4 and 6 of the POCSO Act, which deal with penetrative sexual assault on minors. Of these, 42,634 cases involved offenders known to the victims.

The data showed that friends, online friends and live-in partners who allegedly acted on the pretext of marriage formed the largest category of accused, accounting for 22,308 cases. Family friends, neighbours, employers and other known persons were named in 16,668 cases, while family members were involved in 3,658 cases.

Only 1,492 cases, or 3.4 per cent of the total, involved unidentified or unknown offenders.

The figures underline a continuing trend in crimes against minors where abuse is largely committed by people within the victim’s social circle rather than strangers.

Among states, Tamil Nadu reported the highest number of POCSO cases at 5,320, followed by Maharashtra with 4,829 cases. Madhya Pradesh registered 3,721 cases, while Uttar Pradesh reported 3,671.

Delhi recorded the highest number of such cases among Union Territories at 1,038, followed by Jammu and Kashmir with 228 cases and Puducherry with 82. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands reported 77 cases.

The NCRB data further showed that several states and Union Territories reported all registered cases as involving known offenders. These included Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura and Uttarakhand, along with Union Territories such as Chandigarh, Ladakh, Lakshadweep, Puducherry, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.