A recent report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), titled ‘Performance Audit on Empowerment of Women’ tabled in the UP Assembly on 23 August highlights the sordid state of women’s security in the heartland state.
Incidents of rape cases have risen by 86 percent between 2010 to 2015. From a total of 1,582 cases in 2010-11, registered under section 376 IPC, the incidents have risen to 2,945 in 2014-15. The report comes in the backdrop of the horrific incident of gang rape of a 45-year-old woman and her 14-year-old daughter on a highway in Bulandshahr in July.
Data collated by the CAG from the state’s home department provides startling figures which indicate a 61 percent rise in crime against women in UP between 2010 to 2015. The state government will find it difficult to explain not just the spike in incidents of crime but also the alarming rise in such incidents between 2012-14 — a steep increase from 24,652 reported cases in 2012-13 to 31,810 in 2013-14.
After all, when Akhilesh Yadav had taken oath in March 2012 as state’s 33rd and one of the youngest chief ministers, it was hoped that he would usher in an era of efficient governance unlike the hooliganism that the Samajwadi Party has always been associated with in the state.
Majority of Victims are Minors
The period between 2010 to 2015 for which the CAG has done an audit of various crimes including dowry deaths and trafficking brings forth another shocking detail as far as the age of victims is concerned. The report states, “The most alarming fact is that the largest number, viz., 59 per cent of victims of rape were minor girls.”
Increase in rape cases in various age groups has been significant in the last two years:
- 44 percent increase in the age group upto ten years
- 57 percent increase in the age group 11 to 18 years
- 27 percent increase in the age group above 18 years
Shortage of Police Manpower
What makes the situation worse is the abysmal police-citizen ratio in the state. The Home Ministry data indicates a presence of 81 police personnel per lakh population, which is far less than the national average of 136 police personnel per lakh population. CAG report warns about the fallout of such an abysmal police manpower in the state:
Since Uttar Pradesh tops the list of the states having highest number of violent crimes accounting for 12.7 percent of the total number of violent crimes in the country and also has maximum incidence of crime against women, shortage of about 55 percent of the police manpower, if not immediately addressed, may further worsen the crime scenario in the State.CAG Report, 2016
Dereliction of Duty
A disturbing aspect of the CAG report is the part where it has been highlighted how the police has deliberately delayed filing of FIRs in at least 62 cases of trafficking, rape and kidnapping of girls. In at least six such cases, FIR was registered after the intervention of higher-ups in the force while in another eleven cases, FIR was registered after the court issued directions to do so.
It is however, not shocking for a state where police personnel were seen engaged in an ugly brawl with each other over vasooli (income from bribery) recently. While the state was in news recently over the horrific incident of gangrape of a 45-year-old woman and her 14-year-old daughter on a highway in Bulandshahr, the CAG report has provided fresh ammunition to the opposition.
The report is definitely an eyeopener for Akhilesh’s government in a state which is few months away from Assembly elections, with the BJP launching a scathing attack on the state government yesterday, as its workers protested against deteriorating state of law and order.
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A Few Kilos of Wheat and Rice: Compensation for A Rape Victim
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