Crime against Women on Rise in Bhubaneswar-Cuttack

While the murder cases in the twin city of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, have declined in the last one year, the most alarming this is that crime against women has gone up significantly, which has put the Commissionerate Police on defensive.

In 2013, the crime against women, including Rape, Kidnapping, Eve Teasing, Molestation etc, was put at 320. However, in 2014, the number of such cases went up to 440, a sharp jump of 36.36 per cent. Number of rape cases in 2013 was at 81. But, it went up to 138 in 2014. 72 rape cases were reported in Bhubaneswar, while Cuttack recorded 66 rape cases in 2014.

Minors were worst affected in rape cases, says Twin City Police Commissioner, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Sharma. He also claimed that there has been a significant improvement in the detection of rape and eve-teasing cases.

The number of 498-A, molestation and eve-teasing cases, has also increased in 2014. In total, 143 498-A cases and 159 (molestation and eve-teasing) cases were reported, while they stood at 88 and 151 in 2013. The abduction cases went up from 206 to 295 in 2014.

The only relief for the Commissionerate Police came in murder cases. As compared to 83 murder cases in 2013, the twin city recorded 83 cases in 2014, But, the detection rate fell to 93.5% from 98.55%. The Commissionerate Police admitted shortage of manpower and sought more forces to deal with the crime menace. “We require a total of 119 police officers (6 Inspectors, 103 sub-inspectors and 10 Assistant Sub-inspectors) to handle crime cases in twin city,” said Dr. RP Sharma.