Madhya Pradesh’s ignominy as the most unsafe state for women continues, with the state again reporting the highest incidents of rapes in the country in 2021 at 6,462, as per the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) report released on Saturday.
Shockingly, as many as 3,515 rape cases – 54.3 per cent– involved minor victims. These rapes were registered under sections 4 and 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, while 2,947 cases of adults were registered under section 376 of Indian Penal Code (IPC).
This means that during the year, 18 rapes were reported every day in the state, of which around 10 involved minors. Also, every 10th rape reported in the country was in Madhya Pradesh as it made up for 9.9 pc of the overall 65,025 (31,677 IPC and 33,348 POCSO Act) rape cases reported in India in 2021.
The state has been reporting highest incidents of rapes in the country since the past several years.
Another worrying aspect this year is that after four consecutive years of dip in the number of cases, a sharp increase of 15.4 per cent has been reported. In the year 2020, the rape cases reported in the state were at 5,598. The state had reported 5,822 cases in 2019, 6,480 in 2018 and 6,526 cases in 2017.
The sharp increase in the numbers, despite Covid-19 induced lockdown for a significant period in the first half of 2021, puts a question mark over the safety and security of women and children in the state.
According to the NCRB report for 2021, Rajasthan and Maharashtra reported second and third highest number of rapes. Rajasthan registered 6,337 out of 6,338 cases under section 376 of IPC but categorised 1,452 of these cases as those perpetrated with women below 18 years of age. Maharashtra reported total 5,954 cases including 3,458 registered under sections 4&6 of the POCSO Act.
Atrocities against tribals, dalits highest
The state also reported the highest number of cases of atrocities against scheduled tribes again at 2,627 in 2021. This is a 9.4 per cent increase over 2,401 such cases reported in 2020. In 2019 this figure was at 1,922 while in 2018 it was at 1,868. In the past four years, the state has shown a jump of 40 per cent in atrocities against tribal people.
However, as far as crime rate is concerned (incidents per lakh population), Rajasthan has done far worse with a rate of 23 against 17.2 of Madhya Pradesh.
Similarly, the state has shown the highest rate of atrocities against dalits (scheduled caste people) in the country at 63.6, reporting 7,214 cases. In 2020, the state had reported 6899 such cases.
Uttar Pradesh, which recorded the highest 13,146 cases of atrocities against SC people in 2021, has a far lower rate of crime at 31.8 (due to the high population percentage of SC).
Senior citizens unsafe
Madhya Pradesh has also emerged as the most unsafe state for senior citizens (persons above 60 years of age) with a crime rate of 92.3, which is highest in the country. Total 5,273 cases of atrocities against senior citizens were reported in the state in 2021, a substantial jump of 14.5 per cent. Maharashtra reported second highest cases at 6,190.
