Crimes against women increased nearly 50 per cent in Rajasthan in 2019 with a total of 41,155 cases being registered, which is 13,561 more than the previous year.
The maximum rise in crimes against women was in molestation (68 per cent) while rape cases too increased by 38.34 per cent as compared to the cases registered in 2018, according to the crime data released by the state's Director General of Police Bhupendra Singh here on Monday.
The cases of rape committed against minors also registered an increase of 22 per cent.
Singh said police have registered every FIR that has resulted in an increase in the number of registered cases in 2019.
The overall increase in cases registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code was 31.08 per cent.
Our focus in 2019 was on ensuring that every case is registered and no grievance gets left unattended. We took effective action against organised crimes last year, the DGP told a press conference here.
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For 2020, he said maximum priority will be given to focussing on crimes against women and children.
Last year, a total of 41,155 cases of crimes against women were registered which is 49.14 per cent more than 2018 and 61.01 per cent more than 2017.
A total of 8,802 FIRs of molestation were registered in 2019, which is 67.69 per cent more than 2018 and 80.26 per cent more than 2017.
There were 5,997 rape cases lodged in 2019 with a jump of 38.34 per cent as compared to 2018 and 81.45 per cent more than 2017.
The cases of rape committed against minors also increased by 22 per cent whereas the overall increase in cases against children under POCSO Act was 44 per cent in comparison to 2018.
The cases have gone up but the prime reason behind this is easy accessibility to police. We are registering every case, the officer said.
Expressing concern on the trend of youth seeing criminals as role models, the DGP said special emphasis will be given on motivating youngsters to look up to the work of police personnel.
We will be working more on improving the conduct of police personnel. We want to present the police force as a role model for people, particularly the youth, Singh added.
These days, youth who are unable to secure jobs get attracted towards criminal activities as they follow the work of criminals. This has to be stopped, the DGP opined.
As per the crime data, the total number of cases registered under IPC sections is 2,25,306 in 2019, a jump of 31.08 compared to the previous year.
As many as 1,659 cases were of murder; 1,905 of attempt to murder; 1,421 of loot; 107 of dacoity and 40,815 of theft.
A total of 7,074 cases were registered under the Arms Act and 1,519 of them are related to illegal firearms, which is 14 per cent more than the previous year.
Under the Arms Act, 7,595 persons were arrested with recovery of 1,757 firearms, 16,864 cartridges and 5,373 sharp-edged weapons.
Similarly, the number of cases related to the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act also saw a rise.
The police have noted that the percentage of fake cases under the SC/ST Act too has increased.
Half of the cases (51 per cent in connection with SCs and 50 per cent with STs) were found to be fake during investigation, he said.
DG (Law and Order) M L Lather said incidents of communal tension came down in 2019 as compared to the year before.
Barring a few incidents, law and order situation in the state remained under control and satisfactory, he claimed.
Lather pointed out that the personnel who performed well were motivated and awarded with cash rewards and special promotions.
A special investigation unit for crimes against women was set up in every district and a serious frauds investigation unit along with a cyber crime unit were formed in special operations group (SOG) last year, he said.
A heinous crime of gang rape of a women in front of her husband happened in Alwar in April last year and her husband had alleged that local police had asked them to wait for FIR registration for a few days as the police were busy during Lok Sabha elections.
Facing flak over the issue, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot gave directions to the police to register FIRs in the respective SP offices if it is not lodged in the local police station and to take action against the police personnel for refusing to register such cases.
The Congress came to power in the state in December 2018.