Bhubaneswar: The numbers are very disgusting. The tentative figures show Odisha wrapped up the year 2019 with over 2,524 rapes. And over 44 per cent of the rape burden is borne by only 9 districts. The State has 30 districts.
The 7-infamy districts are not new comers, the sexual assault numbers there keep clocking up since a decade, but a strategy to tame the shooting crime graph is yet to put on ground, when Andhra Pradesh government has recently inserted many new sections in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) to bring in a new Act titled as Disha Act (named after the Vet brutally gang raped and killed in Telangana).
As per the tentative data available with Odisha Crime Branch, the State has recorded around 2,524 rapes in year 2019. An analysis further shows eight districts , namely, Mayurbhanj, Jajpur, Bhadrak, Balasore, Koraput, Keonjhar, Kalahandi and Ganjam along with the Bhubaneswar Urban Police District (UPD) have contributed a high of over 44 per cent of the total rape count.
The analysis further reveals that when Bhubaneswar UPD and Balasore have posted a decline in number of rape cases registered in 2019, the other 5 districts have posted a spike this year. Rape cases have also posted a rise in other big towns like Berhampur, Rourkela etc. Except Jharsuguda, which saw a decline in rapes, all other districts either have shown a rise or have maintained a status quo.
The data reveals a pattern. Odisha's rape count gets a push from a handful of 9-10 districts. And it is these districts where the pendency of cases filed by women are very high. In the given context, the Disha Act passed by Andhra Pradesh Assembly seems a trendsetter for Odisha.
What new Disha Act has? The Act has inserted a new section 354 E to IPC, 1860, which mandates 2-year imprisonment to one who harassed women on social/digital media. Second conviction entails 4-years imprisonment.
The AP government has included 354 F & G to mandate life-long imprisonment for offenders registered under POCSO Act.
Above all, the Act prescribed a time-frame of 7-days for investigation, trial in 14 working days and completion of trial in 21 days from 4-month period earlier. Besides, the big development in the Act is Andhra govt will maintain a digital registry of women and children offenders.
And the registry is not for any in-house study, the police department will made the registry public. This registry is immensely needed in Odisha.