During Covid, rape and trafficking of women increased: RTI
An RTI query has also revealed that many crimes like rape, sexual assault against minors, and trafficking of women have seen a jump in the past 1.5 years
Nagpur: During a series of lockdowns due to the coronavirus pandemic till the months of May and June this year, residents have been confined to their homes. This city has seen a very high rise in crimes against many women.
An RTI query has also revealed that many crimes like rape, sexual assault against minors, and trafficking of women have seen a jump in the past 1.5 years of the coronavirus pandemic as compared to 2019. The year 2020 has seen the sharpest increase in rape of multiple women at around 172 cases as compared to around 136 in 2019. Till August this year, around 149 cases were registered in various police stations across the city.
Similarly, cases of sexual harassment against many children have also been registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act. The boom has been seen as per the reply to RTI queries by senior activist Abhay Kolarkar by Crime Branch Public Relations Officer BN Nalawade.
In the year 2019, 200 Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses cases has been registered. Which increased in the year 2020 and has increased to about 238. Whereas till August 2021, around 142 cases were registered in police stations across the city. In the last year, many women trafficking cases have almost doubled to 33 as compared to only 18 in the year 2019. About 10 cases have been registered so far this year.
Women’s death due to dowry demand
BN Nalawade has said that there has been only a slight decline in the cases of molestation and kidnapping as compared to the year 2019. In the year 2020, about 246 cases of kidnapping and about 323 cases of molestation have been registered as compared to about 404 and about 339 in the year 2019. Till the month of August this year, around 229 molestation and about 239 kidnapping cases have been registered.
Along with this, there has been only a marginal increase in the death of women in the year 2020 due to the demand for dowry by the in-laws in many other crimes. In the last year 2019, 8 deaths have been registered as compared to 5. However, till the month of August this year, not a single case of dowry death has come to the fore. And harassment of in-laws has also seen a decrease of about 118 in the year of 2019 as compared to around 136. In the year 2021, about 103 such cases have been registered. These three years, no offense under forced abortion has been registered.
In the year 2019, not a single offense of public humiliation of women was registered. But this year and last year 4-4 cases were registered. According to BN Nalawade, in the same way, in 3 years, 1-1 cases of acid attack against women had come to the fore.
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