National Crime Records: One woman raped every 15 minutes in India 

How safe are women in India? The government may be pressing ahead with women-focussed issues, but the latest data by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) offer a reality check.

On an average, there were at least 16 cases of crimes against women every hour and 986 crimes every day in 2017. That year, there were 3.6 lakh cases of crimes registered.

Rape formed over 10 percent of total crimes against women, according to the NCRB data. Up to 33,658 women were raped in 2017. That means one woman was raped every 15 minutes.

The NCRB statistics highlight a stark deterioration in law and order in India.

On crimes against women, dowry deaths and acid attacks are the other crimes that increased sharply. Around 20 women died every day due to dowry harassment by the husband and relatives, taking the total to 7,466 deaths in 2017 alone. At least 148 women were attacked with acid. On an average, 12 women every month and one woman every two and half days suffered due to this gruesome crime.

The data show that the maximum crimes were reported against married women. Of the total 3.6 lakh cases, 33.2 percent were registered under ‘cruelty by husband and relatives’. Break down the number further, then on an average, one woman faced cruelty by husband and relatives every five minutes in 2017.

Among states, Uttar Pradesh tops the list, recording the highest number of crimes against women, with 56,011 cases registered in 2017. The state constitutes 15.6 percent of all crimes against women in India.

Maharashtra is the second-most unsafe state for women with 31,979 cases recorded in 2017. The state’s share of the total crimes against women In India was at 8.9 percent.

West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh are the other two states that are extremely unsafe for women. West Bengal had 8.6 percent of all India crimes against women, with 30,992 cases recorded in 2017. Madhya Pradesh had 29,788 cases, or 8.3 percent, of the total crimes against women in the country.