National Crime Records Bureau report ranks Pune 6th in crimes against children

National Crime Records Bureau report ranks Pune 6th in crimes against children

PUNE: The latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) 'Crime in India 2013' report has placed the state third in the country in terms of the number of crimes committed against children, with Pune being sixth among the cities. Rape, kidnap and murders, are some of the crimes that have increased in 2013 in Pune as well as the state.

The report shows Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Indore, and Raipur ahead of Pune in crimes against children.

In 2013, Pune reported as many as 440 cases of crimes against children, Delhi led with 6,124 crimes and Mumbai came in second with 902 cases.

Among the 440 cases, the city registered 126 kidnappings and abductions of children, four exposure and abandonment cases, six child murders and 83 child rape cases. While Delhi, with 658, recorded the highest number of child rapes in 2013, Mumbai followed with 221 and Pune closed in third with 83 child rapes.

In Maharashtra, the total number of crimes committed against children for police investigation, including pending cases from the previous year, was high at 8,652. The state was second only to Uttar Pradesh, where the total number of cases for investigation, including pending cases, stood at 10,735.

However, at the end of 2013, Maharashtra had the highest number of pending cases in comparison to all other states, with 3,686 such cases of crimes against children waiting to be investigated and disposed by the police.

In addition, at 22,262, Maharashtra had the highest number of cases in 2013 for trial in courts, including pending cases from the previous year, in the country.

In the same year, 13 of these were compounded or withdrawn, 119 perpetrators were convicted and 875 acquitted. As many as 21,255 cases are still pending, with Maharashtra being among the states with the highest pendency rate in the country - over 95%, the report showed.

Anuradha Sahasrabuddhe, director of Dnyana Devi Childline, told TOI that a lot of cases of crimes against children get reported in Maharashtra, which may not be the case in more backward states.

"This goes on to show that there is awareness on the illegality and immorality of crime against children here. However, the negative aspect about Maharashtra and Pune is that these are the locations from where many a social movement was born and yet, this state and city seem insensitive to children, which is surprising," she said.

Sahasrabuddhe added that a study should be carried out to get clearer data of the perpetrators of such crimes against children - whether they are from Pune or they are inter-state/intra-state migrants.