BHUBANESWAR: Notwithstanding the Covid-induced lockdowns and shutdowns last year, the state witnessed more rapes and murders in 2020 than the year before. According to a written reply in the assembly by minister of state for home Dibya Shankar Mishra, altogether 2,984 rape and 1,470 murder cases were reported last year.
Though the minister’s written reply did not contain the specific crime data of the previous year, the statistics shared by the state police headquarters showed a rise in the crime heads of rape and murder in 2020. A total of 2,950 rapes and 1,356 murders were registered in the state in 2019.
The first six months of 2020, which saw the start of the lockdown from the last week of March, recorded a rise in the registration of rape cases. Data available with the state police said 1,212 rapes were registered in the first half of 2020, up from 1,149 cases during the corresponding period in 2019. Police sources said around 30% of the 2,984 rape cases were reported during the lockdown period. They added that said sexual violence was difficult to prevent as they were mostly perpetrated by the acquaintances of the victims. The accused included friends, relatives and neighbours. Though there were restrictions on the movement of people and vehicles during the lockdown, such offences occurred inside houses, a senior officer said.
The police said the murder cases increased after the lockdown was eased in June. The motive of most of the murder cases was property dispute and previous enmity, another police officer said.
Mishra’s written reply also revealed that the cyber criminals duped hundreds of victims of nearly Rs 35.07 crore in 2020. The police registered 1,931 cybercrimes in the state last year, up from 1,475 cases in 2019. The police said most of the cybercrime cases were reported during the lockdown when people relied more on online payment and UPI transactions.