E-Paper
After 5 years at top, Assam claims 60% reduction in crime against women
Assam DGP said the drop in crimes against women happened in the state last year due to setting up of special cells and coordinated approach by all stakeholders
The Assam police on Monday claimed that the state, which recorded the highest rate of crime against women in the country for five consecutive years, has got the number of such cases reduced by nearly 60% last year.
The state recorded 12,034 cases of crime against women in 2022, director general of police (DGP) Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta said during the force’s annual review of crimes in Guwahati.
The figure was nearly 60% less than National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data for 2021, which showed that the state had recorded 29,046 such cases. Rate of crime against women in Assam in 2021 was 168.3, which is way higher than the national rate of 64.5. Delhi, considered the most unsafe place for women, came second with 147.6 and Odisha third with 137.8.
“This drop in crimes against women happened last year due to setting up special cells for women in collaboration with Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) and coordinated approach by all stakeholders like the Assam police, social welfare department, NGOs as well as capacity building and sensitisation programmes for the force,” Mahanta said.
Rate of crime is calculated as the number of total crimes recorded per 100,000 population.
In 2017, the rate of crime against women in Assam was 143.3, it was 166 for 2018, in 2019 the figure was 177 and last year it was 154.3.
The DGP said that the crime rate in Assam, which was at an average of 366 cases per 100,000 of population, has now come down to 200 cases per 100,000 population due to various steps taken by the Assam police.
“The case pendency has also drastically come down to 58,908 cases at the end of 2022 as against 95,994 cases at the end of 2021 and more than 100,000 cases at the end of 2020,” he said.
He added that crimes against children have come down to 4,306 as against 5,282 in the previous year. The number of human trafficking cases came down to 96 cases as against 203 in 2021.
“This was due to setting up of anti-human trafficking units in each district, creating a post of superintendent of police (anti-human trafficking) at the criminal investigation department (CID) head quarters and providing infrastructure to all the anti-human trafficking units under Nirbhaya Fund,” said the DGP.
