Rape cases soar in state over last 3 yrs

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Bhubaneswar: The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government, which wears its concern for women on its sleeves, has failed to deliver on safety and security of the fair sex. This was reflected in a statement of minister of state (MoS) for home Dibya Shankar Mishra in the State Assembly Monday.
In a written reply to an unstarred question (No-259) of Congress MLA Suresh Kumar Routray, Mishra stated that 6,867 rape cases had been reported between 2016 and 2018 which meant a spurt of 281 cases in 2018 compared to the previous year.
In a written reply to an un-starred question (No 192), women and child development minister Tukuni Sahu said 33 women were raped and murdered over past two years. While 18 cases were reported in 2017, 15 women were killed last year after they were raped, she told the Assembly.
While 2,144 rapes had been registered in 2016, it went up to 2,221 in 2017 and 2502 last year, he said. Similarly, 6,185 loot cases (2,012 loot cases in 2016; 2,048 loot cases in 2017 & 2,125 cases in 2018) had been registered over past three years. Besides, 1,658 dacoit and 27,196 theft cases were reported during this period, the minister said.
He, however, said that it was untrue that people in the state were feeling insecure due to the rise in rape, dacoit and loot cases day by day.
Briefing about the actions taken by the government to control incidence of such cases, Mishra said police patrolling is being conducted day and night and strict vigil has been kept on the movements of anti-social elements.
He said CCTVs have been installed at many important places so that they help police to get information during investigations and they are yielding results too. Various police stations conduct warrant drives to collect information on the present status and activities of criminals who are still at large.
Highway side hotels and dhabas have been put under vigil and information is being collected about unidentified persons, he said.
Information about looters is being shared among various police stations to check their movements while serious women atrocity cases are being treated as red flag cases for better investigation.
Besides, the government has formed 29 Investigating Units for Crime against Women (IUCAW), three one stop centres and 19 women support centres/ family counseling centres and a dedicated women helpline number—181.
The state crime branch publishes a compendium on crime against women each year and circulates it among SPs, he added.