15 % rise in crime against women

• Only 32 women police stations are currently functioning; insufficient to tackle the rising crimes against women
• Number of rape cases rose by 20.49% and molestation cases by 47.19%
• Dial 100 receives 12 million calls in six months and 5 lakh calls attended
• Rs 123.75 crore collected (till Nov) as fines from traffic violators

Hyderabad: In order to curb the rising crimes against women in the State, a proposal had been sent to the government for setting up 131 additional women police stations, said Director General of Police (DGP) B Prasada Rao on Tuesday. Addressing a press conference after the annual crime review here on Tuesday, he informed that only 32 women police stations were functioning in the State. Prasada Rao also informed that more women were approaching the police to file complaints against the offenders and it was a good sign.

Giving details of the year’s crime cases, he said crimes against women rose by 15.11 per cent with the registration of 25,998 cases till November this year as against 22,585 for the previous year.

“The number of rape cases rose from 1,191 to 1,435 (up by 20.49 per cent). Cases of molestation rose by 47.19 per cent with 5,624 cases being reported till November as against 3,821 reported last year. Cognizable offences in the State saw a rise of 13 per cent with 1, 88,340 cases being registered till November end as against 1, 63,963 reported till November 2012. The number of kidnap and abduction cases involving women reported till November this year was 1,203 as compared to last year’s 1, 020,’’ he explained.

As many as 1,016 cases were registered under sections of Criminal Law (Amendment) Act-2013 (Nirbhaya Act), informed Prasada Rao. On the pro and anti-Telangana stir, the DGP said agitations were handled with tact and patience without allowing them to escalate into major problems with minimum use of force.

“Police booked 466 cases and 1,225 persons were arrested in connection with the agitations. The government put in place a state-of-the-art GPS embedded ‘Dial 100′ (a centralised system on the lines of an emergency response) system at DG Command and Control Centre. During the first six months of operation, 12 million calls were handled and half-a-million emergencies attended to, Rao stated.

The road accidents increased by 6.45 per cent as compared to last year and stood at 40,384 while the total penalty imposed for violation of traffic rules was Rs 123.75 crore (up to November 2013), the top official added.

Cognizable offences in the State saw a rise of 13 per cent with 1, 88,340 cases being registered till November end as against 1, 63,963 reported till November 2012