Odisha, WB see maximum rise in crimes against women: NCRB

Bhubaneswar: Odisha and West Bengal witnessed the maximum increase in number of crimes against women in 2020 as compared to 2019, said the report of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) released on September 14.

The number of such cases decreased in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. Delhi, which is stated to be ‘unsafe’ for a women, saw a decline in the number of such cases (from 13,395 cases in 2019 to 10,093 cases in 2020). Uttar Pradesh was one of the states showing the sharpest decline, with cases going down from 59,853 in 2019 to 49,385 in 2020.

The overall crimes against women in the country reduced by 8.3% with a total of 3,71,503 cases registered in 2020 as against  4,05,326 cases in 2019, the report says.

Majority of the cases were registered under Cruelty by Husband or His Relatives (30.0%) followed by Assault on Women with Intent to Outrage her Modesty (23.0%), Kidnapping & Abduction of Women (16.8%) and Rape (7.5%). A total of 35,331 cases of crime against women were registered in 19 metropolitan cities during 2020, showing a decrease of 21.1% over 2019.

The report further said cases registered under Crimes against Women, Children and Senior Citizens, Theft, Burglary, Robbery and Dacoity had declined ever since the country went into a complete lockdown during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic.