Bhubaneswar: According to a just-released comprehensive crime statistics by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Odisha tops the list of states in terms of assault on women in 2018. The NCRB released its crime statistics for 2018 just few months after the statistics for 2017. The report reveals the poor state of woman safety in the state.
As per the report, around 45 women in every one lakh had to face some sort of assault in 2018 which is way ahead of other states in the country. The state, with a crime rate of 5.6 per cent, remains among the top five states of the country in terms of harassment.
The state witnessed 9,973 cases of assault on women victims with intent to outrage their modesty in 2018. Odisha police registered 1,241 cases under Section 354A of IPC related to sexual harassment of women citizens of the state in 2018.
However, no case of sexual harassment has been reported by the women employees of the state during that period.
Similarly, the state remains at the top among all the states and Union territories in the country in terms of attempting to disrobe women forcefully in 2018.
There are 2,538 women victims who have registered 2,536 cases under Section 354B of the IPC related to disrobing a woman. It was the highest in the country with a crime rate of around 12 per cent. The state continued to top the states under this category in 2018 as well.
Meanwhile, Odisha with 13 cases of acid attacks on women ranked third in the country.
However, there is a glaring mismatch between data provided by NCRB regarding rape incidents in 2018 and the information provided by the government in the state Assembly a few months back. According to the data presented by Minister of State for Home Dibya Shankar Mishra, rape cases increased to 2,502 in 2018 from 2,221 in 2017. However, the NCRB data mentioned a decline in rape cases in the state in 2018. As per the NCRB data, rape cases declined to 923 as against 2,070 in 2017.