The incidences of dowry torture continue unabated in the industrialised Odisha which has topped the chart in the entire country so far as the rate of crime is concerned.
Latest statistics issued by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) shows that Odisha reported as many as 1,487 cases under Dowry Prevention Act accounting for 16.5 per cent of the total cases recorded in the country during 2012.
Though the State was only behind Andhra Pradesh __ which reported 2,511 cases __ in terms of number of cases, Odisha clocked 7.3 per cent crime rate, the highest in the country which meant at least seven women faced dowry demands and related harassment and torture in a population of one lakh.
What is worse, the rate of crime has substantially gone up compared to last year when it was barely 2.5 per cent against the national rate of 0.5 per cent. Last year, the all-India rate of crime for dowry stood at 1.5 per cent.
The incidence of dowry torture has jumped significantly over the last few years, the report said. From 942 cases reported in 2010, the figure has spiralled to 1,487 last year. Similarly, dowry deaths have been on the rise too __ from 388 deaths reported in 2010 to 525 last year. In the last six years, as many as 2,624 dowry deaths have been reported in the State which was among the the first States to put in place an anti-dowry law in India.
Dowry torture and related deaths are not the only blots for the State which has reported a significant rise in incidences of rapes too. The NCRB report said at least 1,458 cases of rapes were reported in the State last year. Of these cases, investigation was pending in 838 cases which formulates about 57 per cent of the total cases.
Of these cases, barely about 11 per cent cases (154 to be exact) ended in conviction while a whopping 570 cases saw acquittal of the accused. By the end of the year, at least 5,149 cases were pending trial in different courts.