Cases of crime against Scheduled Castes increased by 17.52%, while those against Scheduled Tribes jumped by 26.71% from 2018 to 2020, according to statistics that the Centre placed before the Lok Sabha.

Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Kumar Mishra placed the figures before Parliament on Tuesday in response to a question by Congress MP Komatireddy Venkat Reddy and Telangana Rashtra Samithi MP Manne Srinivas Reddy.

According to the Union home ministry, 42,793 crimes against Scheduled Castes were recorded in 2018, while 45,961 such crimes were registered in 2019. In 2020, the number of recorded crimes against Scheduled Castes was 50,291.

The Centre also told Parliament that 6,528 crime cases against Scheduled Tribes were filed in 2018 and 7,570 cases were filed in 2019. The number of crimes against Scheduled Tribes in 2020 was 8,272.

The highest number of cases registered for crimes against Scheduled Castes in 2020 was in Uttar Pradesh (12,714), while the the highest number of cases against Scheduled Tribes in that year was in Madhya Pradesh (2,401).

In 2020, chargesheets were filed in 39,138 cases of crime against Scheduled Castes across India, while investigation was pending in 19,825 cases at the end of the year. Meanwhile, chargesheets were filed in 6,484 crimes against Scheduled Tribes in 2020, and investigation was pending in 3,351 cases at the end of the year.