Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has admitted to a marginal rise in rape cases in 2017, as the Opposition parties lambasted it for worsening law and order in the state.
The white paper on law and order in 2017, prepared by the home department and circulated in the Assembly, said 2,221 rape cases had been registered across the state during the year under review. The number was slightly higher than the previous year, which recorded 2,144 cases. The 2016 number, incidentally, was slightly lower than the previous year (2015).
The Opposition on Thursday slammed the government for the rise in numbers of crimes against women.
Congress chief whip Tara Prasad Bahinipati said six rape cases were taking place every day on an average. BJP MLA Pradip Purohit said women and minor girls were no longer feeling safe under the current regime.
Leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra, on the other hand, expressed his concern over the low conviction rate. "That's why the perpetrators of these crimes are not afraid of police," he said.
Replying to the debate on the budgetary demand for grants to the home department for 2018-19, chief minister Naveen Patnaik refuted the Opposition's allegations about government inaction in dealing with crimes against women. "In the recent highly condemnable rape incidents, the police have taken timely action in arresting the accused in the shortest possible time and I want to assure the House that my government will spare no efforts in ensuring that they are tried expeditiously. Safety and security of women, children and other vulnerable groups remains the top priority of my government," said Naveen.
The white paper revealed that 1,03,866 cases were registered in 2017 against 1,03,702 cases in 2016. Of those, 87,297 cases were registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and charge sheets were filed in 70,045 cases.
However, the chief minister claimed that the law and order situation was by and large peaceful. "The overall crime situation is well under control. No major leftwing extremism activity has been noticed in the affected districts," he said. During 2017, there were reports of 52 cases of Maoist violence from several parts of Odisha. The situation was severe in at least eight districts, while the overall activities of the rebels was under control in other eight districts.
The chief minister said: "The recruitment to the CPI (Maoist) organisation has declined and mass support base of the organisation has been rendered weak due to our proactive security measures and development interventions. Our intelligence-based operations have yielded significant results in 2018 with neutralisation of five hardcore cadres and 12 arrests."
