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MP Congress claims credit for fall in rape cases in 2019, BJP has different theory
A Congress leader said the reduction in rape cases in 2019 was a result of Kamal Nath government’s zero tolerance policy for crime against women.
After 14 years, Madhya Pradesh’s image of a state registering the highest number of rape cases in the country, has changed with a 10% decrease in number of rape cases reported in 2019, according to national crime records bureau (NCRB) 2019 data.
The figures have resulted in a political slugfest, with the Congress claiming credit for the decline and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accusing the rival party of underreporting cases.
The NCRB data pertains to the year 2019, when Congress leader Kamal Nath was the chief minister. Nath was replaced by BJP’s Shivraj Singh Chouhan in March 2020 after 22 Congress MLAs rebelled and resigned from the state assembly, resulting in Nath losing majority on the floor of the house.
As per the NCRB report released on Tuesday, Madhya Pradesh reported the third highest number of rape cases after Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh in 2019.
The central Indian state reported 5,822 total rape cases in 2019 compared to 6,677 in 2018, a decline of about 10%. Overall cognizable crime cases against women in the state reduced by 19%, according to NCRB data. In case of rape of minors, Madhya Pradesh continues to top the chart with 3,337 such cases reported in 2019.
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Congress leaders claimed credit for the fall in rape cases in 2019, but experts working in the area of women rights said the decline was due to under reporting of cases and also because of the change in the way of presenting rape data.
“This year, the data is very technical. The number of total rape cases has gone down from 5,433 in 2018 to 2,485 in 2019 but we can’t say there is an actual fall of 54% in rape cases. While submitting the crime data to NCRB, MP police reported rapes in two different categories- of rape with adults and with minors, presented as offence under Protection of Children from Sexual Offence (POCSO). However, if we add up all the cases registered under section 376 (rape) of IPC with both women and minor girls, there is a decrease of 10%,” she said.
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A woman activist, Rolly Shivhare, said, “We can’t accept this data as it seems to be a case of under reporting. We haven’t seen any concrete step taken by the then Congress government in 2019 to curb crime against women. Their focus was mainly on farmers and unemployment, not women related issues.”
Ruling BJP supported the experts’ view.
BJP spokesperson Neha Bagga said, “The data represents nothing but fudging of numbers to show improvement. The number of cases looks like it has reduced due to under reporting, whereas, the BJP has always believed in reporting each and every incident of crime. The BJP-led state government had introduced many schemes and measures to curb crime during its previous regime. But the Congress government didn’t take any step in its 15-months’ rule from Dec 2018 to March 2020.”
The Congress, however, claims that the reduction is a result of the then government’s “zero tolerance” policy for crime against women.
“The then chief minister Kamal Nath’s zero tolerance policy for crime against women worked and sensitized the police, which resulted in not only rape cases but overall cognizable crime against women being reduced. To not report crime cases is a tactic of the BJP, not of the Congress,” said Congress leader and MP state women commission’s chairperson, Shobha Oza.
