Uttar Pradesh is number one again and for all the wrong reasons once again. The state tops in the number of incidents related to sexual offences against children. According to the latest report by the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), Uttar Pradesh tops in sexual offences that fall under the Prevention of Child from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act followed by Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.
This finding gives a body blow to the Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s claim that a girl can move around in the middle of the night wearing jewellery and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s high-decibel claim of bhay mukt Samaj (Fear-free society).
The NCRB claims that 47,221 cases of crimes under the Prevention of Child from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act were reported in 28 states and eight union territories across the country. Of these, UP reported a maximum – 6,898 cases under the POCSO Act in 2020. UP is followed by Maharashtra with around 5,687 cases, Madhya Pradesh with 5,648 cases, Tamil Nadu with 3,090 and West Bengal with 2,657 cases.
Among the 6898 cases reported in UP, 2,630 cases were related to Sections 4 and 6 of the POCSO Act which means unnatural sex and penetrative sex with children. The victims include 2,533 girls and 97 boys. Moreover, around 68 cases were related to sodomy with 67 boys and one girl victim, as per the NCRB data.
Uttar Pradesh police, however, claims that the law and order situation in the state has improved and the rate of crime against children related to sexual offences actually decreased in recent years. The ADG (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar claims that UP now stands at 24th position among all states and UTs across the country regarding crimes that come under POCSO Act.
“When you say UP tops incidents related to sexual offence against children, this is the wrong interpretation of the NCRB report. UP has the highest number of cases because the state has the highest population in the country. It is home to 24 crore people. In fact, the rate of crime against children in UP is 8.1 per lakh population, which is quite low as compared to the national rate of crime against children (10.6 per lakh population),” he said.