Women most unsafe in UP; husbands, relatives likely assaulters: NCRB data
For women, home has become one of the most unsafe places to live in. According to latest report by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), almost one-third of the crimes against women are committed by their husband or relatives. Uttar Pradesh, which has reported a gory case of gang-rape in its Hathras district recently, accounts for a major chunk of the cases of assault on women.
Kidnapping and assault account for a major share in crimes against women in the country.
According to the NCRB report (Crime in India 2019), the country reported around 4,05,861 cases of crimes against women in 2019 with an increase of about 7.30 per cent (or 27,625 cases) compared to the previous year (3,78,236).
Most of the cases of cruelty against women by husband or relatives have been filed under Section 498 (A) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). A total of 1,25,298 cases have been registered under this section which account for about 30.87 per cent of the total cases against women in 2019. It is followed by cases of assault on women with intent to outrage modesty which account for 21.77 per cent (or 88,367 cases) of the total cases in the same year.
As many as 32,033 cases of rape have been reported in 2019 which account for 7.89 per cent of total cases. Rajasthan alone reported 5,997 cases of rape which is higher than any other state.
Apart from that about 18 per cent (or 72,780 cases) cases of the kidnapping and abduction of women were registered across the states. The rest of the 87,383 cases were registered under other sections of IPC and different state laws.
UP tops the list
Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of cases of crimes against women than any other state. The state reported 59,853 cases over the span of a year with an increase of 407 cases in 2019 than the previous year. It is followed by Rajasthan and Maharashtra that reported 41,550 and 37,144 cases, respectively. Fourteen states have reported over 10,000 cases in a year in 2019. The union territory of Daman and Diu has only 33 such cases while the state of Nagaland stood last in states with just 43 cases reported over the year.
Rajasthan saw the highest surge of 13,648 cases (or 49.11 per cent) compared to 2018. It has reported 41,550 cases in 2019. Odisha (2,909 extra cases), Telangana (2,367 extra cases) and Assam (2,338 extra cases) saw the highest surge followed by Rajasthan in the absolute number of cases. These states have reported 23,183 cases, 18,394 cases, and 30,025 cases respectively in 2019.
Assam has the highest crime rate in India at 177.8 crimes per lakh population. Rajasthan stands second in the list with the crime rate of 110.4 points while Haryana stands third with 108.5 points crime rate.
