Crime against women rises in Cuttack-Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar, Feb 23 (IANS) Even though there is a marginal decrease in murder cases, crimes against women have gone up drastically in the Cuttack-Bhubaneswar twin cities in 2014, statistics of Police Commissionerate said Monday.

Police Commissioner R. P. Sharma said that the two cities recorded 440 cases of crime against women including rape and kidnapping in 2014 against 320 cases in 2013 registering an increase of 36.36 percent.

However, the police claimed that they have detected over 98 percent of cases related to crimes against women.

Sharma said 138 rapes cases, including 72 in Bhubaneswar and 66 in Cuttack, have been reported which is about 70 percent rise against 2013.

A total of 81 rape cases were reported in 2013.

In Bhubaneswar Urban Police District (UPD), there were 51 rape cases reported in 2013, 56 in 2012 and 35 in 2011. Whereas in Cuttack UPD, there were 30 rape cases in 2013, 28 in 2012 and 19 in 2011.

The commissioner said minors, who elope with men and leave their homes are affected the most in rape cases. There had been a significant improvement in the detection rate which stood at 98 percent last year, he added.

Police statistics also showed that the number of molestation and eve-teasing cases has increased as well.

While 159 molestation and eve-teasing cases were reported in 2014, it was 151 in 2013.

There is also a rise in kidnapping cases as the twin cities registered 295 cases in 2014 against 206 cases in 2013.

Sharma said the Commissionerate Police is taking every possible steps and constantly upgrading its methods and techniques to reduce crimes against women and provide a safer environment to them.

In murder cases, the twin cities recorded marginal decrease giving a respite to the police from the rising crime graph.

A total of 78 cases of murder were reported in 2014 and the detection rate was 93.5 percent. The detection rate was 98.55% for 83 murder cases in 2013, said the statistics.

The Commissionerate Police admitted that the shortage of manpower in the rapidly growing urbanisation and fast growing population has posed a challenge for the police.