Hyderabad: Crimes against women under-reported

Hyderabad: During 2020, crimes against women saw a sharp decline under the limits of Hyderabad and Cyberabad police commissionerates. Officials explained that proactive policing done amidst Covid-19 helped in bringing down the crime rate. However, Shaheen Women's Resource and welfare association, a women's rights group, refuted the claims of the police. Pointing out that most of the cases went under reported, they said that they would come up with their survey at the earliest.

Although the overall crime statistics under Cyberabad Police Commissionerate has increased, the crimes against women saw downward trend by 18.66 per cent. The harassment cases also decreased but were on the top of the list in comparison with other crimes against women. The number of cases registered during the year 2020 is 2,302 as against 2,830 in 2019.

Similarly, the Hyderabad police shown the crimes against women as declining by as much as 19 per cent. The number of cases registered during 2020 is 1,908 as against 2,354 in 2019. The Rachakonda police Commissionerate is an exception, which saw rise in cases. There, the crimes registered are 2,562 against 2,260 of 2019. The cases of rape increased by 13% to 329 cases as compared to 314 in 2019.

The women's rights group found that statics remain meager when compared to the ground situation. "Although the police have done a great job, but the ground situation is different. We have been giving a lot of counselling to women lately, the statistics are meager as compared to what we hear and see. There are cases which go unreported, many people don't report, or some are threatened. A few women don't report harassment in the workplace, and few don't file a FIR, especially keeping reputation in mind. We have always been ready to conduct a survey by reaching out to women and knocking on every door. We will collaborate with other NGOs to ascertain the accurate cases." Said Jameela Nishat, the founder of Shaheen Women's Resource and welfare association.