In 2020, Ludhiana was only city with PNDT cases

Among the 34 cities surveyed, only Ludhiana was the only city that had registered four cases under the PNDT Act, of which three were registered by the Haryana police

In 2020, Ludhiana was the only city where unauthorised scanning centres, where pre-natal gender determination tests are carried out, were caught operating, the National Crime Records Bureau data has revealed.

The PNDT Act that has been enacted to stop female foeticide and (Representative Image/HT File)

Among the 34 cities surveyed, only Ludhiana had registered four cases under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PNDT) Act, which has been enacted to stop female foeticide and balance the sex ratio in India . Of the four cases registered under the PNDT Act in Ludhiana, three had been registered by the Haryana health department, which raided the illegal sex determination centres, acting on a tip-off.

The city also registered four cases under the Juvenile Justice Act, the highest among 34 cities. It tied for the top position with Tamil Nadu’s Tiruchirappalli, while two cases each were registered in Kerala’s Thissur and Tamil Nadu’s Madurai.

Lodges highest cases of child labour

The industrial hub also lodged four cases under The Child Labour (Prohibition And Regulation) Act, the highest among all surveyed cities; the Union Territory of Chandigarh also reported two cases, ranking second. The city also reported eight cases of child marriage in 2020. The highest cases of child marriage were reported from Faridabad in Haryana.

Overall, the city recorded 225 cases of crimes against children, which saw a decline as compared to the 328 cases reported in 2019 and 352 in 2018. However, the city still reported the highest crimes against children in the state.

Mohali ranked second with 139 cases, while 129 cases were reported from Sangrur and 128 from Patiala.