Every hour, 18 women face brutalities in India

NEW DELHI: Every hour that ticks by in India inflicts more brutality on women, with two rapes, two kidnappings, four molestations and seven incidents of cruelty from husbands and relatives, reveal the latest national crime statistics.

According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), on an average every hour at least 18 women in the country were victimized in 2006 and more disturbingly, the numbers are swiftly increasing.  

Among states, Andhra Pradesh topped the list of crimes against women with 21,484 cases, accounting for 13 percent of the total incidents in 2006. Uttar Pradesh was a close second, with 9.9 percent of such crimes.

The recent rape case of a British journalist in Rajasthan's Udaipur city and the molestation of two NRI women in India's financial capital Mumbai have once again highlighted the need for stronger measures to empower and protect women in the country.

Crimes against women have been increasing with each passing day. NCRB reveals an increasing trend of rapes from 2003 to 2006.

"Rape incidents reported a substantial increase of 15 percent in 2004 over 2003, a marginal increase of 0.7 percent in 2005 over 2004 and an increase of 5.4 percent in 2006 over 2005," the report said.

Among 35 cities with a population of more than one million, the Indian capital topped with 4,134 cases, accounting for 18.9 percent of the total crimes again women followed by Hyderabad at 1,755 cases.

Delhi reported 31.2 percent of the rape cases, 34.7 percent of the kidnappings and abduction cases, 18.7 percent of the dowry deaths, 17.1 percent of cases of cruelty by husbands and relatives and 20.1 percent of the molestation cases.

A total of 19,348 rape cases were reported in the country in 2006, while the figure was 15,847 in 2005. The report said 8.2 percent (around 1,593) of the total rape victims were girls below the age of 15 years, while 17.4 percent (around 3,364) were teenaged girls. Nearly two-thirds (around 11,312) were in the age group 18-30 years.

Madhya Pradesh reported the highest number of rape cases, at 2,900.

The report suggested that women are unsafe in the company of friends, neighbours and relatives, as in 75.1 percent cases (around 14,536), the offenders were known to the victims. Parents/close family members were involved in three percent (431) of the cases, neighbours were involved in 36.8 percent (5,351) and relatives were involved in 7.6 percent (1,106).
 
Molestation incidents in the country increased by 7.1 percent. In 2006, a total of 36,617 cases were reported against 34,175 in 2005, the NCRB report said. And again, Madhya Pradesh topped the list.

"Seventeen percent of the total cases (6,243) were reported from Madhya Pradesh," the report said.

Kiran Bedi, India's most decorated woman officer who retired in December last year, said at a conference that the loss of ethics and values was the root cause of escalating cases of violence against women.

"Police say that crime statistics are dropping but we know that it is not true. Hiding data will not improve the situation, revealing it will. This way we will be able to know where we lag behind," Bedi added.

Another factor troubling India women was torture meted out by husbands and relatives, which is punishable under Section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

At least 63,128 such incidences surfaced in 2006 as compared to 58,319 in 2005. The figure was 58,121 in 2004.

"Torture cases in the country have increased by 8.2 percent over the previous year (58,319). 14.5 percent of these were reported from Andhra Pradesh (9,164)," the report said.

NCRB said a total of 7,618 incidents of dowry deaths were in 2006, an increase of 12.2 percent over 2005. Uttar Pradesh with 1,798 cases witnessed the highest number of such deaths, followed by Bihar with 1,188 cases.

Uttar Pradesh also topped the list of kidnappings of women, with 2,551 cases. A total of 17,414 cases related to women's abduction were reported in 2006, an increase of 10.6 percent as compared to 2005.