Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath
With 59,853 cases, Uttar Pradesh reported the highest number of crimes against women among states and Union Territories in 2019, according to the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) data released last week. This accounts for 14.7 per cent of such incidents across the country.
The number of rape incidents in 2019 was the highest in Rajasthan (5,997), followed by Uttar Pradesh (3065), according to NCRB’s ‘Crime in India, 2019’, the report said.
In all, 32,033 rape cases were reported across the country in 2019. Of these, 11 per cent victims belonged to the Dalit community.
In Uttar Pradesh, 18 per cent victims were Dalit women, while in Rajasthan, it was 9 per cent.
89 rape cases in the country every day, on an average
This means 89 rape cases were reported across India every day, on an average. On a daily average, eight rape cases were reported from Uttar Pradesh and nearly 16 from Rajasthan.
The data comes at a time when the UP government is facing flak over a string of crimes against women, including the political slugfest after the recent death of a 19-year Dalit woman, who was gang-raped in the Hathras district, triggering an outrage across the country.
The woman, who died in the Capital’s Safdarjung hospital, was the fifth from the state, who was allegedly raped and murdered in the last two months.
Dubious distinction
In terms of absolute numbers, Rajasthan was next to UP, with 41,550 cases (10.2 per cent), followed by Maharashtra, with 37,144 cases (9.2 per cent) of crimes against women in 2019.
The NCRB releases its crime report annually. The latest report said that the incidents of crime against women reported across India in 2019 increased by 7.3 per cent, compared to 2018.
“A total of 4,05,861 cases of crime against women were registered during 2019, showing an increase of 7.3 percent over 2018 (3,78,236 cases),” it said.
Uttar Pradesh continued to maintain its dubious distinction of reporting the most numbers of cases against Dalits (Scheduled Castes) for three consecutive years.
With 11,829 cases, UP accounted for 25.8 per cent of the cases across the country in 2019, followed by Rajasthan (6,794), and Bihar (6,544).
With 7,444 registered cases, UP also had the highest number of crimes against girl children, under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in 2019, followed by Maharashtra (6,402) and MP (6,053).
Crime rate has come down, says UP
Uttar Pradesh officials, however, say that the crime numbers do not depict a bad picture of the Yogi Adityanath-led government, citing
higher population, higher conviction rates and lower crime rates.
They said that the total number of criminal cases do not give the exact picture as states with higher population, such as Uttar Pradesh, tend to depict more numbers than states with lesser population.
However, to address this criticism, NCRB has been reporting the incidents per a population of 100,000.
At 177.8 (per 100,000 population), Assam, for example, reported the highest rate of crime against women, followed by Rajasthan (110.4) and Haryana (108.5) in the NCRB report.
In UP, the rate of crime against women in the NCRB report was 55.5 per 100,000 population. Similarly, in terms of rape cases, Rajasthan was the highest at 15.9 (per lakh population), followed by Kerala (11.1) and Haryana (10.9).
In UP, the rate of rape in 2019 was 2.8 per 100,000 population.
Also, Rajasthan, with 55.6 cases of atrocities against Dalits per lakh population, was worse among states, followed by Madhya Pradesh and Bihar, at 46.7 and 39.5 cases, respectively.
Uttar Pradesh, in the news for recent cases against Dalits, ranked 6th among states with 28.6 reported cases per lakh population.
Crime against children
The highest rate of crimes against children was in Sikkim (27.1 per lakh population), followed by MP (15.1), and Haryana (14.6). For UP, the rate of crimes against children was 6.9 in 2019.
UP government and police officials said that the incidents of rape in the state were lower than 25 states in the NCRB data. Overall, they said, the situation of crime against women, as reflected by the NCRB report, was better in UP than 14 other states.
“We are ensuring strict action against those accused of crime against women as conviction was ensured by courts in 15,579 cases,” UP’s Additional Director General (ADG) of police (law and order) Prashant Kumar told media in Lucknow, citing the NCRB report.
On Sunday, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, while directing the police to act in cases of crime against women and girls with full sensitivity, cited the NCRB figures and said that the state had reported a “punishment rate of 55.2 per cent in cases of crime against women, which was the highest in the country.”
In 2019, 8,059 were convicted (in crime against women), the highest in the country, followed by Rajasthan (5,625 cases), the statement issued from the CM’s office said.
While UP had a conviction rate of 55.2 per cent in crimes against women, according to the NCRB report, it was 13.7 percent in Maharashtra and 45.5 percent in Rajasthan.
India saw the first wave of protests demanding stringent anti-rape laws in 2012, after the rape and murder of Nirbhaya in New Delhi. The protests prompted policymakers to make amendments in the rape laws, which included an amendment in the POCSO Act, 2012.
