The recent National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) numbers for 2021 portrayed Assam as the state with the highest rate of crime against women in India for the fifth consecutive year. Last year, the rate of crime against women in Assam was 168.3, far higher than the national figure of 64.5. Delhi came in second with 147.6, followed by Odisha with 137.8.
The number of total offences registered per 100,000 inhabitants is used to compute the crime rate. Assam’s crime rate against women was 143.3 in 2017, 166 in 2018, 177 in 2019, and 154.3 in 2020.
In 2021, the rate of charge sheets filed for total cases in Assam was 52.9%, much lower than the national rate of 77.1%. Assam recorded 29,046 incidences of crime against women last year, a 10.22% rise from 2021, when the state recorded 26,352 cases. In 2019, the figure was 30,025 compared to 27,687 in 2018.
Assam had 46 incidences of rape-cum-murder/gang rape in 2020, the second highest figure in the country after Uttar Pradesh, which had 48 cases. The figure represents a significant increase from the 26 similar incidents recorded in Assam in 2021. Last year, the state recorded 1,835 rape cases, compared to 1,658 in 2020. Last year, there were 563 attempted rapes and 4,511 assaults with the goal to offend modesty.
“This is one distinction, which no one in Assam wants. One reason for the high numbers could be that most victims in Assam come forward to report cases. And the police register those cases promptly instead of the women being turned away like in some other states,” said a senior police officer on condition of anonymity.
While dowry deaths were rare a few years ago, there has been a rise in such crimes in Assam in recent years. Last year, 198 women died in dowry-related incidents across the state; by 2020, the figure will be 150. In 2021, nine incidences of acid attacks on women were also reported.
“The figures are very worrying. More awareness and sensitisation is needed to bring the cases down. This won’t happen overnight and will take a lot of work,” said Chikimiki Talukdar, former chairwoman of the Assam State Commission for Women.
Last year, 12,950 of the total cases of crime against women filed in Assam were of cruelty by husband or his relatives under Section 498A of the IPC. In 2021, the state documented 5,866 occurrences of kidnapping and abduction of women, 3,362 of which were kidnapping and abduction to force marriage.
Under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act, the state registered 1,948 cases, including 1,317 cases of child rape, 424 incidents of sexual assault, and 158 cases of sexual harassment. In 2020, the total number of cases filed under the POCSO Act in Assam was 1496.
Assam recorded 432 occurrences of cybercrime against women, including the publication or transmission of sexually explicit content. It is the country’s second highest figure behind Odisha, which recorded 565 cases.
