Over 34,600 rape cases in India; Delhi tops among UTs

A total of 34,651 rape cases have been reported across the country in 2015 with Madhya Pradesh and Delhi topping the infamous list of states and union territories (UTs), respectively.

Among these, in 33,098 cases the offenders were known to the victims, according to the National Crime Records Bureau data released on Tuiesday.

The rape victims were among the age group of below six years to over 60 years.

Madhya Pradesh has reported 4,391 rape cases, a highest among the states. Whereas, the national capital has reported 2,199 such cases — highest among the UTs.

Nearly 3.27 lakh cases of crimes against women were reported across the country. Of these over 1.3 lakh were sexual offences — 1.2 lakh in states and 9,445 in union territories. The sexual offences cases included rape, attempt to commit rape, assault on women with intent to outrage her modesty and insult to modesty of women.

Among the rape cases, Maharashtra reported 4,144 such incidents. A total of 3,644 and 3,025 rapes were reported in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, the data said.

As many as 2,251 rape cases were reported in Odisha, 1,733 in Assam, 1,560 in Chhattisgarh, 1,256 in Kerala, 1,129 in West Bengal, 1,070 in Haryana and 1,041 in Bihar, it said.

Among the UTs, 72 rape cases were reported in Chandigarh, 36 in Andaman and Nicobar Island, eight in Dadar and Nagar Haveli, five in Daman and Diu and three in Puducherry. No such crime was reported in Lakshawdeep.

Of the total sexual offences against women, Maharashtra reported a highest of 16,989 cases, 12,887 in Madhya Pradesh and 11,343 in Uttar Pradesh. As many as 9,359 such offences were reported in Odisha, 8,873 in Rajasthan, 8,274 in West Bengal, 8,049 in Andhra Pradesh and 6,044 in Telangana. Chhattisgarh reported 3,500 such cases, 1,743 in Gujarat, 1,738 in Bihar and 270 in Goa. 

Among the north eastern states, Assam reported a highest of 6,636 sexual offences against women, followed by 609 in Tripura, 231 such cases in Meghalaya, 186 in Arunachal Pradesh, 141 in Mizoram, 133 in Manipur, 53 in Nagaland and 29 in Sikkim.

Punjab has reported 2,164 cases, 1,633 in Tamil Nadu, 737 in Himachal Pradesh and 623 in Uttarakhand.

Among the UTs, Delhi has reported 9,104 sexual offences against women, followed by 164 in Chandigarh, 98 in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, 47 in Puducherry, 13 in Dadar and Nagar Haveli, 12 in Daman and Diu and seven in Lakshawdeep, the data said.

In the category of states that reported criminal cases against women, a total of 35,527 were in Uttar Pradesh, 33,218 in West Bengal, 31,126 in Maharashtra, 28,165 in Rajasthan, 24,135 in Madhya Pradesh, 23,258 in Assam and 15,931 in Andhra Pradesh, it said.

Among the UTs, a total of 17,845 cases of crime against women were registered. Of these, 17,104 were in Delhi alone, 463 in Chandigarh, 136 in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, 80 in Puducherry, 28 in Daman and Diu, 25 in Dadar and Nagar Haveli, and nine in Lakshawdeep.

A total of 3,37,922 cases of crime against women were reported in 2014.