Data available with the police and the women’s commission shows a marked difference in the number of cases lodged, evidence that victims don’t trust the panel enough to approach it with their complaints.

While Bihar State Women’s Commission records show a continuous dip in crimes against women over the years, data available with the police headquarters points to just the opposite.

In the last year, the police lodged 9,795 cases while the commission received 1,332 complaints.

The crimes against women comprise mostly of rapes, kidnappings, eve-teasing and deaths and atrocities owing to dowry, the inspector-general (weaker sections), Arvind Pandey, told The Telegraph.

In 2011, the police had lodged 8,141 cases and the commission 1,444. No different in 2010 either, the police registered 6,790 complaints and the commission 2,473.

For 2009, it was 6,393 police cases and 2,010 with the commission. In 2008, the police headquarters received 6,186 complaints and the commission 3,911.

The slide from 3,911 complaints in 2008 to only 1,332 last year indicates that the women’s commission has failed to win the faith of many victims.

The chairperson for Bihar State Women’s Commission, Kahkashan Parveen, however, has a different explanation.

She said: “We used to get complaints from women which we then filed in court. We have stopped taking such cases and we ask the complainants whether or not they have filed their cases in court?”

She added: “We also used to receive a lot of fake complaints. We have now developed a system whereby the victim has to lodge the complaint. We keep organising camps across the state and many complaints are resolved there itself. Many women do not want to come on record. In those cases, we solve their problems without even a complaint, sometimes over the phone.”

Varsha, a social activist, said: “Crimes against women are on the rise, as the Bihar State Women’s Commission does not seem to be very proactive and fails to provide justice. People holding positions in the commission are associated with political parties and have little or no knowledge of dealing with such women. The commission can be very proactive in providing justice if it wants to but it has failed to do so. It has become a toy in the hands of the ruling party.”