Andhra Pradesh stands fourth in sexual harassment cases; 463 minor victims in 994 rape cases reported last year

VISAKHAPATNAM: In a dubious distinction, Andhra Pradesh stands fourth in the country in the sexual harassment cases, according to the data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) on Thursday. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh released the ‘Crime in India 2016’ published by the NCRB in New Delhi.  The report suggests that 16,362 cases of crime against women were reported in Andhra Pradesh last year when compared to 15,967 cases reported in 2015. When it comes to sexual harassment, Andhra Pradesh, with 1,305 cases, is behind only three States in the country. Uttar Pradesh tops the chart with a whopping 9,422 cases followed by Maharashtra (second) and Madhya Pradesh (third) with 4,057 and 3,128 cases respectively.

Andhra Pradesh registered  1,305 sexual harassment cases last year, with 18 per cent rise when compared to the same of the previous year that recorded 1,070 cases.  Though the rape cases saw a marginal decline in AP last year, the NCRB data have highlighted another dubious trend. Of the 994 rape cases reported in 2016, in 463 cases, the victims were minors. Further, in 79 cases, the culprits are the family members of the victim, while 361 cases were committed by the neighbours. 

Further, the NCRB report has given ninth rank to AP based on the crime rate calculated as per population. It suggests that the crime rate in the State has not seen any major decline than the previous years. Other cases like murders, kidnap and cyber crime have registered an increase.Andhra Pradesh recorded 193 dowry deaths as against 174 in  2015, apart from  31 women trafficking and 626 kidnapping and abduction of women cases last year. 

Cyber crime has witnessed a rapid increase as the State registered 616 cases in 2016 when compared to 536 cases in 2015 and the NCRB report has put the AP in the sixth place in the list of States with highest cyber-crime cases. The murder cases reported last year also saw a marginal rise when compared to the same of previous year. As many as 1,123 murders were reported in AP last year as against 1,099 in 2015. The State also recorded 13,856 thefts, 315 robberies and 63 dacoities too. As many as 1,847 cases of crime against children cases were reported in the State in 2016, including 54 murders. Further, negligent and rash driving claimed 8,685 lives in the State last year.