Kidnapping & abduction: Ludh has 2nd highest cases in state

Ludhiana: Ludhiana commissionareate reported 138 cases of kidnapping and abduction of women for forced marriage in 2021, which is second highest among districts in the state. According to the NCRB report, Ludhiana is second only to SAS Nagar in this. One year before, there were 119 such cases, which increased by 15.9% in 2021.
According to the report, SAS Nagar had the highest number of such cases at 211 followed by Ludhiana CP while Patiala stood at number three with 105 such cases. Malerkotla and SBS Nagar had the lowest number of such cases among districts and CPs of the state at 15.
Data of kidnapping and abduction cases of the last many years suggests that Ludhiana CP reported 170 such cases in 2017, in 2018 there were 254 cases and in 2019 there were 208 and in 2020, they fell to 135 while in 2021, 150 such cases were reported.
Legal experts attribute the increase in the number of such cases to runway marriages. Senior advocate Rakesh Gandhi said in cases of runway marriages, agitated parents of the girl often get cases registered. Meanwhile, residents underlined the need for more efforts in the direction of women’s safety.
“Though there is some improvement in the security scenario of Ludhiana, but I think more needs to be done to make the city secure for women. Police presence should be enhanced, especially in sensitive areas so that women feel safe,” said city resident Amarjeet Kaur.