Bhubaneswar, Oct 1: In a disturbing development, the National Crime Records Bureau’s (NCRB) latest report, Crime in India 2023, has revealed the worsening trend of crimes against women in Odisha.

The report revealed that Odisha is among the states and union territories that recorded the highest rate of crimes against women (crime per one lakh population) in the country in 2023. The rate of crimes against women in Odisha in the concerned year stood at 112.4, which is the fourth highest after Delhi (133.6), Telangana (124.9) and Rajasthan (114.8).

As many as 25,914 cases of crime against women have been reported at different police stations in 2023, which is the sixth highest in the country.

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Meanwhile, Odisha, with 761 cases, topped the list in women-related cybercrime cases that include the publishing or transmitting sexually explicit materials, blackmailing, defamation, morphing and fake profiles.

The NCRB report also revealed that Odisha, with 1195 cases, is among the top 10 states (7th) with the maximum number of rape cases registered during the above year. In 2023, as many as 30 cases regarding the use of Child for Pornography and Storing Child Pornography Material were reported in Odisha and Karnataka, which is the fourth highest in the country.

Odisha, with 9,367 cases, recorded the fourth-highest number of cases of assault on women with intent to outrage her modesty, while it topped the country with the highest crime rate under this category (40.6) in 2023.

According to the NCRB’s Crime In India 2023 report, as many as 5,611 cases were registered in Odisha during 2023, including kidnapping and abduction of women. Although Odisha is seventh among the list of states and union territories under the category but the crime rate in Odisha (24.3) is second highest in the country after the national capital Delhi (39.5).

--IANS