Lok Sabha Question No. 483 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-02-06
Subject: Crime Cases
Ministry: HOME AFFAIRS
Asked by: Ashok Kumar Rawat

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 483

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 6 TH  FEBRUARY, 2024/ MAGHA 17, 1945 (SAKA) CRIME CASES

†483. SHRI ASHOK KUMAR RAWAT:

Will the Minister of HOME AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

(a)  whether  there  is  an  increase  in  the  number  of  incidents  related  to heinous crimes committed against women and if so, the details thereof;

(b)  whether the Supreme Court on 2 January, 2013 had issued notices to the  Union  and  State  Governments  to  set  up  fasttrack  courts  for  speedy trial of all cases related to rape and the safety of women;

(c) if so, the details thereof; and

(d)  the details of steps taken or being taken by the Union Government in accordance with the guidelines of the Supreme Court for providing safety to women?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS (SHRI AJAY KUMAR MISHRA)

(a):  National  Crime  Records  Bureau  (NCRB)  compiles  statistical  data  on crimes as reported to it by the States/UTs and publishes the same in its publication  'Crime  in  India'.  The  latest  published  report  pertains  to  the year 2022. The details of crime cases against women Crime Head-wise in terms  of  Cases  Registered  (CR)  during  years  2013  to  2022,  are  at Annexure.

## L.S.US.Q.NO. 483 FOR 06.02.2024

(b)  to  (d):  Notice  was  issued  to  the  Central  Government  by  the  Hon'ble Supreme  Court  of  India  in  the  Writ  Petition  (Civil)  No.  568  of  2012  on 04.01.2013.  The  Writ  Petition  pertained  to  the  protection  of  women  and children against heinous crimes.

Government of India recommended the setting up of 1800 Fast Track Courts  (FTCs)  during  2015-2020  for  speedy  trial  of  specific  cases  of heinous nature, civil cases related to women, children, senior citizen etc. pending for more than 05 years. The State Governments/UTs have set up 851 FTCs as on 31.12.2023.

To implement the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018 and comply with  the  directives  of  the  Supreme  Court  to  establish  Special  Courts exclusively  dealing  with  Protection  of  Children  from  Sexual  Offenses (POCSO)  Act  cases,  the  Government  devised  a  Centrally  Sponsored Scheme  in  August  2019.  This  scheme  aimed  to  establish  Fast  Track Special Courts (FTSCs), including exclusive POCSO Courts nationwide for expeditious  disposal  of  rape  and  POCSO  Act  cases.  The  scheme  was initially  for  one  year,  which  was  further  extended  to  March  2023  and thereafter  again  extended  up  to  31.03.2026  at  a  total  financial  outlay  of Rs. 1952.23 crore including Rs. 1207.24 Cr. as Central Share to be incurred from Nirbhaya Fund.

'Police'  and  'Public  Order'  are  State  subjects  under  the  Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India. The responsibility of maintaining law and  order,  protection of life and  property  of  the citizens including investigation and prosecution of crime against citizens including women & children rest with the respective State Governments. The State Governments are competent to deal with such offences under the extant provisions of laws. However, Ministry of Home Affairs has taken a number of  initiatives  for  safety  of  women  across  the  country,  which  are  given below:

i.  The  Criminal  Law  (Amendment),  Act  2013  was  enacted  for  effective deterrence against sexual offences. Further, the Criminal Law (Amendment)  Act,  2018  was  enacted  to  prescribe  even  more  stringent penal provisions including death penalty for rape of girls below the age of 12 years. The Act also inter-alia mandates completion of investigation and filing of chargesheet in rape cases in 2 months and trials to be completed in 2 months.

ii.  Emergency  Response  Support  System  provides  a  pan-India,  single internationally recognized number (112) based system for all emergencies, with computer aided dispatch of field resources to the location of distress.

iii.  Using  technology  to  aid  smart  policing  and  safety  management,  Safe City Projects have been sanctioned in first Phase in 8 cities (Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow and Mumbai).

iv.    Ministry  of  Home  Affairs  has  provided  financial assistance under  the 'Cyber Crime Prevention against Women and Children (CCPWC) Scheme, to the  States/UTs  for  their  capacity  building  such  as  setting  up  of  cyber forensic-cum-training  laboratories,  hiring  of  junior  cyber  consultants  and training of LEAs' personnel, public prosecutors and judicial officers.

v. MHA has launched the 'National Database on Sexual Offenders' (NDSO) on 20th September 2018 to facilitate investigation and tracking of sexual offenders across the country by law enforcement agencies.

vi.  MHA  has  launched  an  online  analytic  tool  'Investigation  Tracking System for Sexual Offences' for Police on 19th February 2019 to facilitate them  to  monitor  and  track  time-bound  investigation  in  sexual  assault cases in accordance with Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2018.

vii. In order to improve investigation, MHA has taken steps to strengthen DNA analysis units in Central and State Forensic Science Laboratories.

This  includes  setting  up  of  State-of-the-Art  DNA  Analysis  Unit  in  Central Forensic Science  Laboratory, Chandigarh.  MHA  has  also  sanctioned setting-up and upgrading of DNA Analysis units in State Forensic Science Laboratories after gap analysis and demand assessment.

viii.  MHA  has  notified  guidelines  for  collection  of  forensic  evidence  in sexual  assault  cases  and  the  standard  composition  in  a  sexual  assault evidence  collection  kit.  To  facilitate  adequate  capacity  in  manpower, training and skill building programs have been undertaken for Investigation Officers,  Prosecution  Officers  and  Medical  Officers.  Bureau  of  Police Research & Development has distributed 18,020 Sexual Assault Evidence Collection Kits to States/ UTs as orientation kit as part of training.

ix. MHA has also approved two projects for setting up and strengthening of Women Help Desks in Police Stations and Anti-Human Trafficking Units in all districts of the country.

x.  In  addition  to  the  above-mentioned  measures,  the  Ministry  of  Home Affairs  have  issued  advisories from time  to time with a  view to help the States/UTs  to  deal  with  crimes  against  women,  which  are  available  at www.mha.gov.in

Further, Ministry of Women & Child Development is implementing One Stop Centre (OSC) Scheme across the country. The objectives of the One Stop Centre Scheme are to provide integrated support and assistance to women affected by violence, both in private and public spaces under one roof and facilitate immediate, emergency and non-emergency access to a range  of  services  including  police,  medical,  legal  aid  and  counselling, psychological  support  to  fight  against  any  forms  of  violence  against women.

The  Universalisation  of  Women  Helpline  (WHL)  Scheme  is  being implemented since 1 st  April, 2015 with the aim to provide an   immediate and 24 hour emergency and non-emergency response to women affected by violence  across the country by referral service.  Under the Scheme, a toll-free  24-hours  telecom  service  through  short  code  181  is  provided  to women seeking support and information. Women helpline is operational in 35  States/  UTs  and  the  same  has  been  integrated  with  the  Emergency Response Support System 112.

*****

## Number of Cases registered Heads-wise under crime against women

| Sl. No.   | Crime Heads                                         | Cases registered in 2013   | Cases registered in 2014   | Cases registered in 2015   | Cases registered in 2016   |   Cases registered in 2017 |   Cases registered in 2018 |   Cases registered in 2019 |   Cases registered in 2020 |   Cases registered in 2021 |   Cases registered in 2022 |
|-----------|-----------------------------------------------------|----------------------------|----------------------------|----------------------------|----------------------------|----------------------------|----------------------------|----------------------------|----------------------------|----------------------------|----------------------------|
| 1         | Murder with Rape/Gang Rape                          | -                          | -                          | -                          | -                          |                        223 |                        294 |                        284 |                        219 |                        284 |                        248 |
| 2         | Dowry Deaths                                        | 8083                       | 8455                       | 7634                       | 7621                       |                       7466 |                       7167 |                       7141 |                       6966 |                       6753 |                       6450 |
| 3         | Abetment to Suicide of Women                        | 0                          | 3734                       | 4060                       | 4466                       |                       5282 |                       5037 |                       5008 |                       5040 |                       5292 |                       4963 |
| 4         | Miscarriage                                         | 0                          | 48                         | 66                         | 587                        |                        266 |                        213 |                        238 |                        239 |                        196 |                        236 |
| 5         | Acid Attack                                         | 0                          | 137                        | 140                        | 160                        |                        148 |                        131 |                        150 |                        105 |                        102 |                        124 |
| 6         | Attempt to Acid Attack                              | 0                          | 40                         | 30                         | 46                         |                         35 |                         37 |                         46 |                         33 |                         48 |                         38 |
| 7         | Cruelty by Husband or his relatives                 | 118866                     | 122877                     | 113403                     | 110378                     |                     104551 |                     103272 |                     124934 |                     111549 |                     136234 |                     140019 |
| 8         | Kidnapping and Abduction of Women                   | 51912                      | 57324                      | 59283                      | 64519                      |                      66333 |                      72709 |                      72681 |                      62300 |                      75369 |                      85310 |
| 9         | Human Trafficking                                   | 0                          | 456                        | 713                        | 659                        |                        662 |                        854 |                        960 |                        646 |                        914 |                        781 |
| 10        | Selling of Minor Girls                              | -                          | -                          | -                          | -                          |                         80 |                         40 |                         20 |                         12 |                         12 |                          8 |
| 11        | Buying of Minor Girls                               | -                          | -                          | -                          | -                          |                          4 |                          8 |                          8 |                          1 |                          2 |                          3 |
| 12        | Rape                                                | 33707                      | 36735                      | 34651                      | 38947                      |                      32559 |                      33356 |                      32032 |                      28046 |                      31677 |                      31516 |
| 13        | Attempt to Commit Rape                              | 0                          | 4234                       | 4437                       | 5729                       |                       4154 |                       4097 |                       3941 |                       3741 |                       3800 |                       3288 |
| 14        | Assault on Women with Intent to Outrage her Modesty | 70739                      | 82235                      | 82422                      | 84746                      |                      86001 |                      89097 |                      88259 |                      85392 |                      89200 |                      83344 |
| 15        | Insult to the Modesty of Women                      | 12589                      | 9735                       | 8685                       | 7305                       |                       7451 |                       6992 |                       6937 |                       7065 |                       7788 |                       8972 |
| A         | Total IPC Crimes against Women                      | 295896                     | 326115                     | 315632                     | 325652                     |                     315215 |                     323304 |                     342639 |                     311354 |                     357671 |                     365300 |
| 16        | Dowry Prohibition Act                               | 10709                      | 10050                      | 9894                       | 9683                       |                      10189 |                      12826 |                      13307 |                      10366 |                      13568 |                      13479 |
| 17        | Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act                    | 2579                       | 2070                       | 2424                       | 2214                       |                       1536 |                       1459 |                       1179 |                        868 |                       1071 |                        946 |
| 18        | Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act      | 0                          | 426                        | 461                        | 437                        |                        616 |                        579 |                        553 |                        446 |                        507 |                        468 |
| 19        | Cyber Crimes/Information Technology Act             | -                          | 749                        | 792                        | 930                        |                        600 |                       1244 |                       1635 |                       2334 |                       2597 |                       2940 |
| 20        | Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act     | -                          | -                          | -                          | -                          |                      31668 |                      38802 |                      45989 |                      46123 |                      52836 |                      62095 |
| 21        | Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act  | 362                        | 47                         | 40                         | 38                         |                         25 |                         22 |                         24 |                         12 |                         28 |                         28 |
| B         | Total SLL Crimes against Women                      | 13650                      | 13342                      | 13611                      | 13302                      |                      44634 |                      54932 |                      62687 |                      60149 |                      70607 |                      79956 |
|           | Total Crime against Women (A+B)                     | 309546                     | 339457                     | 329243                     | 338954                     |                     359849 |                     378236 |                     405326 |                     371503 |                     428278 |                     445256 |