New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh tops the list of
States and Union Territories with the highest number of 900
child rape cases in 2008 followed by Madhya Pradesh and
Maharashtra.
According to the latest data by the Ministry of Home
Affairs for three years, cases of child rape continue to rise
as a total of 4,721 cases were registered during 2006, 5,045
in 2007 and 5,446 in 2008 across the country.
Police have arrested 5,489 people in 2006 for their
involvement in such crimes, 5,756 in 2007 and 6,363 in 2008.
Madhya Pradesh registered 892 such cases, Maharashtra
(690), Rajasthan (420) and Andhra Pradesh (412) in 2008, the
data said.
A total of 411 such cases were registered in
Chhattisgarh, 301 in Delhi, 215 in Kerala, 187 in Tamil Nadu,
129 in West Bengal, 106 in Punjab and 104 in Tripura, it said.
Whereas, Gujarat has registered 99 cases, Karnataka 97,
Bihar 91, Haryana 70, Himachal Pradesh 68, Orissa 65 and Goa
18.
"According to the Constitution, police and public order
is the State subject that is why the primary responsibility of
prevention, detection, registration, investigation and
prosecution of crimes, including crimes against children, lies
with the State governments or Union territory
administrations," a Home Ministry official said.
However, the condition in northeastern states was slight
better as compared to their counterparts. Eleven cases came to
light in Arunachal Pradesh, 12 in Sikkim, 18 in Mizoram, 22
in Manipur, 27 in Assam and 34 in Meghalaya.
According to the data, no such cases were registered in
Nagaland, Daman and Diu and Lakshadweep. Besides, ten cases
were filed in Chandigarh, nine in Uttarakhand, eight each in
Jharkhand and Andaman and Nicobar Islands, five in Jammu and
Kashmir, four in Puducherry and three in Dadra and Nagar
Haveli.
Out of the total registered cases, 1,177 people were
convicted for their offence during 2008. In 2007, 1,210 were
convicted for their crime as against 963 in 2006, the data
said.
PTI
