Children accounted for 57% of the total number of victims in cases registered under section 377 for unnatural offences in 2016, as per the recently-released data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). While there were a total of 2,195 victims in 2,187 cases reported in 2016, there were 1,254 child victims in 1,247 cases.
The conviction rate in these cases remained abysmal at below 10%, with only 131 convictions and over 169 acquittals. While 1,386 people were arrested for unnatural offences against children, 1,217 people were charge-sheeted in over 1,081 cases. The police dealt with over 1,302 cases of unnatural offences against children that were pending trial from 2015, and sent 1,081 cases for trial during the year.
The total cases registered under section 377 in 2016 (2,187) saw a jump of 38% from 2015 (1,347 cases) and 2014 when 1,148 cases were registered. Uttar Pradesh accounted for more than 45% of the total number of cases registered under section 377 for unnatural offences in 2016 with over 999 cases. Kerala, with 207 cases, came second while Delhi with 182 cases took the third spot.
There were 461 (21%) cases of unnatural offences against women registered in 2016, with over 464 victims (21.1%). Of these, 132 cases were pending from the previous year. In the case of women, too, the conviction remained quite low with only seven convictions, and over 16 acquittals. In 2016, there were 502 arrests made, of which 487 were male, and charge-sheets were made in 276 cases with 264 being male.
