Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The state is witnessing a spurt in cases of rape of women. The number of rape cases reported from the state in the first four months of 2021 is 40 per cent higher in comparison to that in the corresponding period of last year (2020).
In the first four months of 2020 (January-April), a total of 1,321 rape cases were reported from all over the state. In 2021, the corresponding figure is 1,841—a jump of just a shade below 40 per cent.
The state government may be claiming that it is doing everything for effacing the stigma of the country’s rape capital from the face of Madhya Pradesh, but data shows the inadequacy or ineffectiveness—or both—of its efforts.
The upward spiral in the number of rape case has been an enduring trend in the state. The number of such cases had doubled in 2020 in comparison to 2019. In 2019, 2,485 rape cases were reported in the state, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report. The figure jumped to 4,553 in 2020, according to the State Crime Records Bureau.
Incidents of attempt to outrage the modesty of women reported in the state in the first four months of 2021 numbered 2,908—up from 2,580 in 2020.
Cases of sale of five girls for prostitution were reported from five districts—Morena, Shivpuri, Chhindwara, Chhatarpur and Neemuch—in January 2021. In February, two women from Ratlam and Mandsaur were sold into prostitution. In January 2020, in Neemuch and Jabalpur, two girls were sold into prostitution.
The data shows that Neemuch and Mandsaur are the epicentres of immoral trafficking in women in the state. The police in these districts have not been able to check this horrific crime.
