A quiz for all: 10 questions on ‘how safe are Indian women?’

A survey by Thomson Reuters Foundation last month heaped upon India the ignominy of being the most dangerous country in the world for women, ranking the South Asian democracy below war-torn countries such as Afghanistan, Syria and Somalia.

Indian government was quick to reject the findings, with the National Commission for Women (NCW) coming out with a strong rebuttal questioning the sample size of the survey.

However, government’s own records on crimes against women, published by the National Crimes Records Bureau (NCRB) put a big question mark on NCW’s claims.

HOW SAFE IS INDIA FOR WOMEN?

1. The new India with a young population is progressive and dowry is slowly but steadily going out of marriages. That’s what we think. But guess how many cases of dowry deaths were recorded in 2016?
2. Police records do not tell the full story and under-reporting is the norm. And yet, how many cases were registered for assault on women to outrage their modesty?
3. This one is relatively easy. How many complaints of rape were registered by the police?
4. No, acid attacks are not quite few and rare. Guess how many were recorded by NCRB in 2016?
5. How many women get abducted?
6. Did you know that there is a crime classified as assaulting women with intent to disrobe? Take a wild guess and speculate on the number of such cases.
7. Name the five states in each of which more than 100 incidents of gangrape were recorded.
8. Guess how many women complained of cruelty by their husbands or their relatives?
9. It is poor consolation that even 57 men were abducted for ‘marriage’. The number of women abducted is of course much higher. Put a figure on it.
10. Name the five states where custodial rapes were recorded in 2016?

(Answers are available in the report ‘Crime in India’ by National Crime Records Bureau)

1. DOWRY DEATHS

2014: 8,455

2015: 7,634

2016: 7,631

2. ASSAULT FOR OUTRAGING MODESTY

2014: 82,235

2015: 82,422

2016: 84,766

3. Cases of rape

2014: 36,735

2015: 34,651

2016: 38,947

4. ACID ATTACKS & ATTEMPTS

225 cases registered in 2016 (Consolidated figures for 2017 not available yet)

5. KIDNAPPINGS & ABDUCTION

66,544 women were abducted in 2016 as per police records

6. INTENT TO DISROBE

9,789 cases registered in 2016

7. GANGRAPES IN 2016

Uttar Pradesh ( 682), Rajasthan ( 366), Madhya Pradesh (226), Haryana (191), West Bengal (130)

8. CRUELY BY HUSBANDS & RELATIVES

1,10,434 complaints recorded in 2016

9. ABDUCTION OF WOMEN FOR MARRIAGE

14,539 women were abducted in 2016 for ‘ forced marriage’

10. CUSTODIAL RAPE

(In police stations or prisons) Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Mizoram. All other states and Union Territories reported Zero such cases.