Lok Sabha Question No. 502 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-06-25
Subject: Dowry Deaths
Ministry: HOME AFFAIRS
Asked by: D.K. Suresh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 502

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 25 TH  JUNE, 2019/ ASHADHA 4, 1941 (SAKA)

DOWRY DEATHS

502. SHRI D.K. SURESH:

Will the Minister of HOME AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  there  has  been  an  increase  in  the  cases  of  dowry  deaths  and domestic violence against women;
- (b)  if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the  total  number  of  such  cases  reported, accused arrested, convicted and the action taken against them, separately during each of the last three years and the current year, State-wise; and
- (c)  the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  stop  such  cases  along  with  the advisories issued to the State Governments in this regard?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS (SHRI G. KISHAN REDDY)

(a)& (b): National  Crime  Records  Bureau  (NCRB),  compiles  and  publishes information  on  crimes  in  its  publication  'Crime  in  India'.  The  published reports  are  available  till  the  year  2016.  The  information  published  for  the years 2014, 2015 and 2016 does not show any such trend in the number of cases of dowry death and domestic violence against women, as may be seen from the details given in Annexure-I and Annexure-II.

(c) 'Police' and  'Public Order' are State subjects under the  Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India. The responsibilities to maintain law and order, protection of life and property of the citizens rest with the respective State Governments. The State Governments are competent to deal with such offences under the extant provisions of laws.

## LS.US.Q.NO.502 FOR 25.06.2019

However,  Ministry  of  Home  Affairs  vide  its  advisory  dated  04.09.2009 had advised all State Governments/ Union Territories Administration to take the following measures:

- a. Dowry  related  cases  must  be  adjudicated  expeditiously  to  avoid further harassment of the women.
- b. Appointment of Dowry Prohibition Officers and notification of the Rules under the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.

Further,  pursuant  to  the  judgement  dated  14.09.2018  passed  by  the Hon'ble  Supreme  Court  of  India  in  W.P.  (C)  No.  73  of  2015  -  Social  Action Forum vs. Union of India, Ministry of Home Affairs has issued an advisory on 26.11.2018 to all States/UTs for compliance of the judgment relating to the 498A of the IPC.

Further, the Ministry of Home Affairs has issued advisories to all State Governments/UTs, advising them to ensure thorough investigation of crimes against  women,  filing  of  chargesheets  against  the  accused  persons  within three  months  from  the  date  of  occurrence  without  compromising  on  the quality of investigation in heinous crimes and for increasing gender sensitivity in Police. These advisories are available at www.mha.gov.in.

*****

Annexure-I State/UT-wise  Cases Registered (CR), Persons Arrested (PAR) and Persons Convicted (PCV) under

Dowry Deaths (Sec. 304 B IPC) under Crimes against Women during 2014-2016

|    |                   | 2014   | 2014   | 2014   | 2015   | 2015   | 2015   | 2016   | 2016   | 2016   |
|----|-------------------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|
| SL | State/UT          | CR     | PAR    | PCV    | CR     | PAR    | PCV    | CR     | PAR    | PCV    |
| 1  | Andhra Pradesh    | 215    | 531    | 45     | 174    | 400    | 32     | 193    | 468    | 37     |
| 2  | Arunachal Pradesh | 1      | 1      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 1      | 4      | 0      |
| 3  | Assam             | 188    | 284    | 24     | 216    | 278    | 37     | 157    | 213    | 22     |
| 4  | Bihar             | 1373   | 2384   | 235    | 1154   | 1690   | 214    | 987    | 1678   | 201    |
| 5  | Chhattisgarh      | 128    | 337    | 88     | 89     | 239    | 110    | 84     | 216    | 68     |
| 6  | Goa               | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 2      | 2      | 1      | 0      |
| 7  | Gujarat           | 23     | 59     | 3      | 12     | 43     | 1      | 12     | 42     | 3      |
| 8  | Haryana           | 293    | 568    | 102    | 243    | 376    | 127    | 260    | 391    | 73     |
| 9  | Himachal Pradesh  | 1      | 5      | 4      | 2      | 6      | 0      | 3      | 8      | 0      |
| 10 | Jammu & Kashmir   | 5      | 14     | 0      | 6      | 24     | 1      | 6      | 17     | 0      |
| 11 | Jharkhand         | 350    | 498    | 96     | 267    | 307    | 112    | 278    | 334    | 85     |
| 12 | Karnataka         | 313    | 675    | 20     | 254    | 538    | 28     | 234    | 546    | 19     |
| 13 | Kerala            | 28     | 56     | 0      | 8      | 21     | 4      | 25     | 33     | 5      |
| 14 | Madhya Pradesh    | 733    | 2017   | 747    | 664    | 1907   | 797    | 629    | 1797   | 504    |
| 15 | Maharashtra       | 279    | 949    | 45     | 268    | 788    | 55     | 248    | 761    | 35     |
| 16 | Manipur           | 1      | 1      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      |
| 17 | Meghalaya         | 1      | 1      | 0      | 1      | 1      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      |
| 18 | Mizoram           | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      |
| 19 | Nagaland          | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 1      | 1      | 1      | 0      |
| 20 | Odisha            | 441    | 1326   | 129    | 356    | 1076   | 76     | 397    | 850    | 84     |
| 21 | Punjab            | 90     | 186    | 82     | 85     | 172    | 73     | 80     | 152    | 24     |
| 22 | Rajasthan         | 408    | 531    | 244    | 463    | 528    | 157    | 462    | 512    | 117    |
| 23 | Sikkim            | 0      | 0      | 0      | 1      | 1      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      |
| 24 | Tamil Nadu        | 95     | 292    | 97     | 65     | 131    | 35     | 58     | 137    | 36     |
| 25 | Telangana         | 289    | 722    | 64     | 262    | 463    | 70     | 254    | 567    | 18     |
| 26 | Tripura           | 33     | 95     | 5      | 28     | 35     | 6      | 19     | 42     | 6      |
| 27 | Uttar Pradesh     | 2469   | 10660  | 1895   | 2335   | 9860   | 2546   | 2473   | 10504  | 1959   |
| 28 | Uttarakhand       | 38     | 103    | 25     | 54     | 61     | 66     | 57     | 71     | 16     |
| 29 | West Bengal       | 501    | 994    | 43     | 498    | 833    | 30     | 535    | 886    | 46     |
|    | TOTAL STATE(S)    | 8296   | 23289  | 3993   | 7505   | 19778  | 4580   | 7455   | 20231  | 3358   |
| 30 | A & N Islands     | 3      | 8      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      |
| 31 | Chandigarh        | 2      | 3      | 2      | 5      | 10     | 1      | 4      | 12     | 0      |
| 32 | D&N Haveli        | 0      | 0      | 0      | 1      | 1      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      |
| 33 | Daman & Diu       | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 3      | 0      |
| 34 | Delhi UT          | 153    | 295    | 59     | 122    | 184    | 42     | 162    | 299    | 42     |
| 35 | Lakshadweep       | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      |
| 36 | Puducherry        | 1      | 3      | 0      | 1      | 0      | 1      | 0      | 0      | 0      |
|    | TOTAL UT(S)       | 159    | 309    | 61     | 129    | 195    | 44     | 166    | 314    | 42     |
|    | TOTAL (ALL INDIA) | 8455   | 23598  | 4054   | 7634   | 19973  | 4624   | 7621   | 20545  | 3400   |

## Annexure-II

## State/UT-wise Cases Registered (CR), Persons Arrested (PAR) and Persons Convicted (PCV) under Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 during 2014-2016

|                   |                   | 2014   | 2014   | 2014   | 2015   | 2015   | 2015   | 2016   | 2016   | 2016   |
|-------------------|-------------------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|
| SL                | State/UT          | CR     | PAR    | PCV    | CR     | PAR    | PCV    | CR     | PAR    | PCV    |
| 1                 | Andhra Pradesh    | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      |
| 2                 | Arunachal Pradesh | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      |
| 3                 | Assam             | 1      | 1      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 2      | 1      | 0      |
| 4                 | Bihar             | 112    | 123    | 3      | 161    | 215    | 5      | 171    | 256    | 3      |
| 5                 | Chhattisgarh      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 2      | 2      | 0      | 3      | 5      | 0      |
| 6                 | Goa               | 2      | 1      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      |
| 7                 | Gujarat           | 2      | 2      | 0      | 2      | 2      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      |
| 8                 | Haryana           | 4      | 3      | 0      | 11     | 22     | 0      | 10     | 8      | 0      |
| 9                 | Himachal Pradesh  | 5      | 5      | 0      | 15     | 14     | 0      | 11     | 9      | 0      |
| 10                | Jammu & Kashmir   | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      |
| 11                | Jharkhand         | 5      | 4      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      |
| 12                | Karnataka         | 0      | 0      | 0      | 1      | 1      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      |
| 13                | Kerala            | 140    | 116    | 2      | 132    | 124    | 7      | 111    | 118    | 9      |
| 14                | Madhya Pradesh    | 53     | 59     | 5      | 91     | 100    | 9      | 90     | 99     | 9      |
| 15                | Maharashtra       | 4      | 6      | 0      | 8      | 24     | 0      | 2      | 2      | 0      |
| 16                | Manipur           | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      |
| 17                | Meghalaya         | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      |
| 18                | Mizoram           | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      |
| 19                | Nagaland          | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      |
| 20                | Odisha            | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      |
| 21                | Punjab            | 2      | 2      | 0      | 2      | 1      | 0      | 2      | 1      | 0      |
| 22                | Rajasthan         | 17     | 16     | 0      | 14     | 19     | 2      | 4      | 4      | 6      |
| 23                | Sikkim            | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      |
| 24                | Tamil Nadu        | 4      | 4      | 0      | 4      | 2      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      |
| 25                | Telangana         | 1      | 3      | 0      | 6      | 4      | 0      | 1      | 2      | 0      |
| 26                | Tripura           | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      |
| 27                | Uttar Pradesh     | 66     | 345    | 2      | 4      | 4      | 4      | 23     | 38     | 0      |
| 28                | Uttarakhand       | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 1      | 0      | 0      |
| 29                | West Bengal       | 1      | 3      | 0      | 2      | 2      | 0      | 5      | 12     | 0      |
|                   | TOTAL STATE(S)    | 419    | 693    | 12     | 455    | 536    | 27     | 436    | 555    | 27     |
| 30                | A & N Islands     | 0      | 0      | 0      | 2      | 2      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      |
| 31                | Chandigarh        | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      |
| 32                | D&N Haveli        | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      |
| 33                | Daman & Diu       | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      |
| 34                | Delhi UT          | 7      | 0      | 1      | 4      | 2      | 0      | 1      | 1      | 1      |
| 35                | Lakshadweep       | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      |
| 36                | Puducherry        | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      |
|                   | TOTAL UT(S)       | 7      | 0      | 1      | 6      | 4      | 0      | 1      | 1      | 1      |
| TOTAL (ALL INDIA) | TOTAL (ALL INDIA) | 426    | 693    | 13     | 461    | 540    | 27     | 437    | 556    | 28     |

Source: Crime in India