The Paradox of Safety: A Critical State-Wise Analysis of Crime Against the Elderly in India

By 2050, India is set to undergo a significant demographic shift as the population aged 60 and above is expected to double. India’s increasing concern with the problem of crime against the elderly. This elderly demographic not only presents social problems but also dire issues concerning the safety of the elderly population with respect to crime. This paper goes far beyond the usual narrative and descriptive frameworks based on statistical winterization of the data and presents a critical, multi-variate, inter-state analysis of the problem. The present study begins with a standardized analysis of the data base on the police reported crime data as published in the NCRB 'Crime in India' 2022 report, calculating the police reported crime rate per 100,000 seniors CRE. This, in turn, relies on the police presence to per capita income non-agricultural industries to agriculture ratio in the state. This study contributes to the literature on interstate crime in India in three significant ways. First, the study offers the most recent and comprehensive standardized state level data set. Secondly, the empirical test of the reporting bias theory using a robust statistical model. In policy discourse, a shift is made from general crime control to prevention of violence against the elderly. Regarding the study, its unique primary findings stem from the analysis of per capita CRE in the wider context of socio-economic structure comprising non agriculture, highly educated workforce, the ratio of employed graduates to total population, density of graduates per capita, police presence, income, and per capita police budget funded by the state.