Madhya Pradesh has been recording an alarming number of rape cases in comparison to other states and in more than half of all such offences, the accused happened to be the neighbours of the victims.
According to the latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), on an average nine rapes were committed every day in Madhya Pradesh in 2012.
There were 3,404 rapes committed in 2011 and the number rose to 3,425 in 2012, the report said.
Of the 3,425 cases in 2012, in 1,779 cases, the accused were neighbours of victims, in 255 the culprits were relatives and in 36 cases family members, including father of victim, it said.
Women between ages of 18-30 were most vulnerable target as 1,385 women in this group were raped in 2012.
Followed by this was the age group of 14-18 years, which accounted for 1,210 victims.
The NCRB report also said that the state was ahead of others in the juvenile offenders category in the country.
A total of 1,175 children were booked on charges of rape in the country in 2012, of which 249 were from Madhya Pradesh.