VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh has witnessed a 3% decline in crimes against women in 2020 compared to 2019. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, 17,089 cases were registered with respect to crimes against women in 2020 as against 17,746 cases in 2019. Crimes against children, however, increased by 4% in 2020. As many as 2,648 cases pertaining to crimes against children were reported last year as against 2,524 cases in the previous year.
The total number of affected children was put at 2,738. The crime rate against children stood at 17.5% per one lakh population. A total number of 2,38,105 cases (IPC and Special Local Laws) were registered in 2020, registering an increase of 63%, compared to 1,45,751 cases in 2019. Of the total, 1,88,997 were cognisable cases under the IPC and the remaining 49,108 were cases filed under the SLL. Interestingly, the rate of chargesheet filing increased to 90.1% in 2020 from 83% in 2019. Of the total IPC cases, 88,377 were related to violation of Covid-19 restrictions.
“If we exclude Covid protocol violation cases, the total number of cognizable IPC cases has fallen to 1,00,620 in 2020, registering a 15% decline, compared to 1,192,29 cases reported in 2019. Same is the case with SLL cases as enforcement activities have increased in the State after the formation of the Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB) to curb liquor and sand smuggling,” stated a release from the AP police headquarters on Wednesday.
“The rise in total number of cases in the State can be attributed to the Spandana grievance redressal programme as 10,544 FIRs were registered based on petitions received from public,” a senior police official told TNIE.
When it comes to the enforcement of the Prohibition, Excise and NDPS Acts, the number of cases registered increased by a whopping 322%, 204% and 21% respectively. According to the NCRB data, the number of murder cases declined by 2%, atrocities against SCs and STs by 3%, kidnap and abduction cases by 18% and road accidents by 13% respectively in 2020.