Crimes against women, children on rise in Maharashtra: Survey

Maharashtra recorded a rise in the incidents of crime against women and children in 2017 compared to 2016, according to the state's Economic Survey.
The survey, tabled today in both houses of the state legislature, said while there were a total of 31,275 offences of crime against women in 2016, the number rose to 32,100 in 2017.
While 4,189 rape offences were reported in 2016, the number rose to 4,356 in 2017.
Also, cases of kidnapping and abduction increased from 6,169 in 2016 to 7,113 in 2017. Molestation cases rose from 11,396 in 2016 to 12,238 last year, it said.

Cases of sexual harassment, however, saw a dip, from 924 in 2016 to 864 in 2017. Instances of immoral trafficking also went down, from 303 in 2016 to 281 in 2017.
Cases of dowry deaths, too, dropped, from 248 in 2016 to 234 in 2017.

The survey said while a total of 3,331 cases were registered for crimes against children in 2016, the number shot up to 4109 in 2017.
While there were 132 cases of murder in which children were victims in 2016, the number increased to 147 in 2017. The number of child rapes rose from 2086 in 2016 to 2305 in 2017.

Also, while 8,016 offences were lodged for kidnapping and abduction of children in 2016, the number rose to 8,850 in 2017, it said.