Alarming surge in crimes against women revealed in Andhra Pradesh: NCRB report
Visakhapatnam: The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) released its annual crime report on Monday, highlighting the situation of women's safety in Andhra Pradesh. The data revealed a staggering 25,503 cases of crime against women in 2022, translating to approximately 70 First Information Reports (FIRs) filed each day. This marked a significant increase from 2021, which recorded 17,752 cases, indicating a shocking rise of over 43% in 2022. The numbers from 2020 reported 17,089 cases.
The NCRB's findings exposed a crime rate of 96.2 per lakh population, coupled with a charge sheeting rate of 92.7 in such cases in 2022. Andhra Pradesh stood at the 6th position in the country concerning crimes against women. Uttar Pradesh claimed the distinction of registering the highest number of cases with 65,743 FIRs, followed by Maharashtra (45,331), Rajasthan (45,058), West Bengal (34,738), and Madhya Pradesh (32,765).
Despite the surge in reported cases, the NCRB issued a cautionary note, emphasising that the increase does not necessarily reflect police ineffectiveness. Instead, it may be attributed to initiatives such as e-FIR facilities and women helpdesks, which have encouraged more victims to come forward and report crimes.
The data revealed a disturbing pattern of violence against women. The majority of crimes against women were categorized as cruelty by the husband or his relatives (11,954 cases), followed by assault with intent to outrage modesty (5,884 cases), rape (621 cases), kidnapping and abduction (592 cases), abetment of suicide (358 cases), and dowry deaths (100 cases).
