GUWAHATI: Assam has the highest rate of women-related crime in the country after Delhi, but most of them are kidnapping cases registered over elopement by women, the state police chief said today.
"Our study of the (women-related) cases has revealed that 75 to 80 per cent of the cases reported at police stations were related to kidnapping," Director General of Police Khagen Sarma told reporters here.
"Unlike some other states, societies in Assam and the northeast region are progressive and do not penalise women marrying men of their choice. "Missing or kidnapping cases are registered by the families when the women elope from their homes," he said while noting that Assam has the second-highest rate of women-related crime in the country.
"In such cases, their families report them as 'missing' or 'kidnapped' but later they are found to have eloped," the DGP said, adding that police "register cases from women whenever they come".
Sarma, however, acknowledged that the state -- with 1,036 women constables, which makes up only five per cent of the total Assam police force strength -- lags behind the national average for women police personnel. Two women constables are posted per police station in the state and plans are afoot to raise their numbers, he said.