National Commission for Women (NCW) Chairperson Rekha Sharma on Thursday expressed deep concern over the recent National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, saying, "people make videos of crimes but they don't come forward to help". The report revealed a four per cent increase in crimes against women. The NCRB's 'Crime In India' report for 2022 also highlighted the persistent prevalence of "cruelty by husbands or relatives" as a major factor, accounting for 31.4% of cases and victimising 1.44 lakh individuals.
"The majority of the new cases are of domestic violence in families. The role of society here is not that of the police, the law, or the government. I always say that no matter how strict the laws are, or how diligently the government works in this regard...unless society's thought process changes and women in households are granted rights, our society will not be considered equal. It is the problem that you can see in the data...When family members are involved in rape cases, where can we expect women to be safe? We need to start with ourselves," she told news agency ANI.
"In cities such as Delhi, people film the incidents but do not come out to help. These are indicators that something is lacking in our society. And we need to change those thoughts, mindsets, and areas where we fall short as a society," she added further.
READ | Crime Against Women: Nearly 2 Females Targeted In Delhi Every Hour In 2022, NCRB Says
Crime Against Women Rises By 4%, Says NCRB Report:
An increase of four per cent in crime against women was observed in a recent report by NCRB. Cruelty by "husbands or relatives" continued to be the predominant factor, constituting 31.4% of the cases, involving 1.44 lakh victims, according to the NCRB's 'Crime In India' report 2022.
On an average, 50 cases were reported in an hour and 1,220 cases in one day.
According to the report, Delhi recorded the highest crime rate against women in the country, with 14,247 cases in 2022, resulting in a rate of 144.4, which is above the national average of 66.4.
There were 14,277 cases in 2021 and 10,093 cases in 2020. Uttar Pradesh reported 65,743 cases of crime against women, followed by Maharashtra (45,331), Rajasthan (45,058), West Bengal (34,738), and Madhya Pradesh (32,765). These five states mentioned account for approximately 50 per cent of the total cases reported in India in 2022.
Crimes related to "cruelty by husband or his relatives" were reported to be 31.8 per cent (1.36 lakh) of all crimes against women in 2021, showing a 2 per cent increase from 2020.
READ | Kolkata Is The Safest City With Least Crime Rate For Third Year In Row: NCRB
Delhi Tops List Of Most Unsafe Cities For Women:
According to data shared by the NCRB, Delhi is still one of the most dangerous metropolitan cities for women in the country, with an average of three rapes per day, and 14,158 crimes against women reported in 2022. This was a slight increase from the 13,982 reported crimes against women in 2021.
In Delhi, there were 186.9 crimes against women per 100,000 people. The city accounted for 29.04% of the 48,755 crimes against women reported in the country's 19 major cities, indicating that law enforcement was not doing enough to create a safe environment for women.
The Capital also had the highest number of dowry deaths (129), accounting for more than a third of the country's total 381 such cases. Delhi was followed by Lucknow (43), Kanpur (43), and Jaipur (33).
However, there was one type of crime in which Mumbai outperformed Delhi: of the 1,752 cases filed under Indian Penal Code section 509 (insult to the modesty of women), Mumbai led the pack with 667, followed by 400 in Delhi and 250 in Kolkata.
In 2022, the overall crime rate per lakh women population rose to 66.4, compared to 64.5 in 2021. Kidnapping and abduction of women constituted 19.2 per cent of the cases. In total there were 85,310 cases with 88,243 victims. The report focused on cases of murder with rape/gang-rape at 248, involving 250 victims in 2022, and 284 cases in 2021 involving 293 victims. Rape incidents consisted of 31,516 cases with 31,982 victims, including 1,017 girls below 18 years, according to the report.