Five rapes, 12 sexual crimes against minors, 105 molestations, and 36 kidnappings of women have been recorded in the Srinagar region of Jammu and Kashmir in the past roughly seven months of this year, according to a senior police officer.
There were more and fewer reported incidents of ‘crimes against women’ in the area in the first seven months of this year compared to the same period last year.
Despite this, the number of recorded incidents of “cruelty by husband(s)” has increased dramatically, with Senior Superintendent of Police Rakesh Balwal being quoted by Global News Service as saying, “The women folk are feeling more secure and protected vis-à-vis the registration of complaints now.”
Balwal added that the law enforcement authorities in Srinagar are making every effort to guarantee that women have the same social and domestic freedoms as their male counterparts despite the high population density that results from people moving to the city from all over the Valley and beyond.
Despite a mixed rate of case registration when the overall records of the last three years are compared, the police officer said, “The women folk are feeling more secure and protected vis-à-vis the registration of complaints now when it comes to any sort of abuse.”
The police officer shared a breakdown of cases under different crime heads against women in Srinagar district in 2020, 2021, 2022, and the first seven months of the current year so far, noting that there were seven rape cases in 2020, twenty-one in 2021, fourteen in 2022, and five in the current year so far. Similarly, the district witnessed 8 incidents of “Sexual offences against Children” in 2020, 20 in 2021, 26 in 2022, and 12 so far this year.
There were 42 reported kidnappings of women in 2020, 83 in 2021, 116 in 2022, and 36 so far this year.
The officer said that there were 187 molestation instances in the area in 2020, 204 in 2021, 227 in 2022, and 105 so far this year. As of March 2020, there have been six reported occurrences of eve-teasing, rising to nine in 2021, eight in 2022, and three so far this year.
The officer said that there were 47 occurrences of ‘cruelty by spouse’ in the area in 2020, 41 in 2021, 70 in 2022, and 54 so far this year.
There were no ‘immoral acts’ complaints filed in 2020, one in 2021, none in 2022, and one so far this year.
In the district, there were no ‘dowry death’ instances recorded in 2020, one in 2021, and one in 2022. So far in the current year, there have been no such reports.
Officer: “We have a zero-tolerance policy on crime against women, and I would reiterate it here that whomever is found involved in any such crime will be dealt with strictly as per law.” (GNS)
