Govt says fewer crimes against women but its data shows rise in cases

Even cases of sexual assaults against children booked under the POCSO Act have increased considerably this year.According to the data tabled in the Assembly, there were 338 rape incidents reported in the state in 2018 and the numbers have increased from 294 in 2017.Similarly, dowry deaths have increased from 48 in 2017 to 55 in 2018 while molestation casese increased from 744 in 2017 to814 in 2018.

Rape cases booked under POCSO Act have also registered increase from 1,154 in 2017 to 1,464 in 218.

The number of cases of kidnapping and abduction of women have also increased from 860 in 2017 to 906 in 2018. Sexual harassment against women have also registered an increase of nine cases in 2017 to 14 cases in 2018. The only category to witness a reduction in number of cases is domestic violence by the husband and his kin (reduced from 984 in 2017 to 789 in 2018). Earlier, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, while delivering the address on demand on grants of Police department, said that 1,996 cases of crime against women were registered in the state in 2018 against the 2,070 cases registered in 2017. However, data clearly points out that serious crime against women have actually increased and only non-serious criminal incidents have decreased.