Image Courtesy:nationalheraldindia.com
On March 17, the Centre was asked whether crimes of rape against girls of the underprivileged classes of the society and Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) women are increasing in the country with state-wise details for the last two years.
Rajya Sabha member M.V Shreyams also asked the Home Affairs Ministry whether the Government has conducted any study/enquiry on this growing menace of cruelty where the culprits escape the arms of the law?
The Minister of State (Home). G. Kishan Reddy, provided shocking data about the frequency of ghastly crimes against underprivileged women and children in India. In terms of registered rape cases against Scheduled Caste women under the Indian Penal Code, the year 2019 recorded 2,369 cases and 2018 recorded 2,067 cases.
Under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, that deals with penalising perpetrators for sexual crimes against children, 2019 reported 1,117 cases and 2018 reported 869 cases against Dalit children.
Providing more data on rape cases registered against Scheduled Tribe women and children for the last two years, 2019 saw 714 cases against women and 396 cases against children. In 2018, as many as 609 women registered rape complaints, whereas 399 cases were registered by minors.
Highlighting the data from 2019, Rajasthan reported the highest number of cases against Dalit women (491) and Madhya Pradesh reported the highest number of cases against Dalit minors (214). Shockingly, Madhya Pradesh also recorded the maximum number of cases against Scheduled Tribe women and children with 219 and 139 cases, respectively.
The Cabinet Minister Kishan Reddy also said that the Centre has not undertaken any study on the crime graph against women as it is the State’s responsibility. His written response stated, “The responsibilities to maintain law and order, protection of life and property of the citizens, and investigation and prosecution of crime including crime against girls and women who are members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes rests with the respective State Governments. The State Governments are competent to deal with such offences under the extant provisions of laws and any study on any such specific aspect is in their jurisdiction.”
The answer may be read here:
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