Crimes Against Women in June Highest in 8 Months with 2,043 Complaints

The National Commission for Women (NCW) received 2,043 complaints of crimes committed against women in June, the highest in the last eight months.

According to the NCW data, 452 complaints were received of domestic violence in June alone.

Out of the 2043 complaints, the highest number were received under the 'Right to live with dignity' at 603. The 'Right to live with dignity' takes into account the emotional abuse of women.

The number of complaints received in June have been highest since September last year when 2,379 complaints were received, the data showed.

NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma attributed the rise in complaints to the increased activity of the commission on social media platforms.

"The complaints have increased because we are very active on social media now and we are registering cases from Twitter and other social media platforms too. We have a WhatsApp number for reporting cases which was not in place earlier. People know that we are helping and that's why they have more faith in us," Sharma told PTI.

The second highest number of complaints were received under the 'Protection of Women against Domestic Violence' at 452, the data showed.

Sharma similarly attributed the increase in domestic violence complaints due to the active presence of NCW on social media.

"Same is with the cases of domestic violence. We advertised on Doordarshan at prime time to make women aware of the ways in which they could reach us and also started our emergency WhatsApp helpline number which is an easy way for women to reach out to us. This is the reason why numbers have increased," she said.

There were 252 complaints under harassment of married women and dowry harassment followed by 194 complaints of outraging modesty of women and molestation, the data showed.

The NCW data showed that 113 complaints of police apathy towards women and 100 complaints of cyber crime have been received.

As many as 78 complaints of rape and attempt to rape were received while 38 complaints of sexual harassment were received in June, the data showed.

Sharma encouraged women to reach out to the NCW whenever they wanted.

"The NCW is working for the wellbeing and empowerment of women so they can reach us anytime, any day," she added.

In May, 1,500 complaints were received by the NCW while in April 800 complaints were received and in March 1,347 complaints were received. In February 1,424 complaints were received while in January 1,462 complaints were received, the data showed.

In December, 1,402 complaints were received while in November 1,642 and in October 1,885 complaints were received, the data showed.