The National Crime Records Bureau’s (NCRB) latest report, Crime in India 2023, revealed a concerning data regarding the escalation in crimes against women in Odisha.
Odisha is among one of the country’s states and union territories that recorded the highest rate of crimes against women (crime per one lakh population) in 2023. The rate of crimes against women in Odisha in the concerned year stood at 112.4, which is the fourth highest, trailing only Delhi (133.6), Telangana (124.9) and Rajasthan (114.8).
The state reported a total of 25,914 cases of crime against women at the police stations in 2023, ranking sixth nationally in terms of volume.
Meanwhile, Odisha holds the top spot for women-related cybercrime cases, registering 761 incidents. These cybercrimes include the transmission or publication of sexually explicit materials, blackmailing, defamation, morphing, and the creation of fake profiles.
Furthermore, the NCRB report places Odisha among the top ten states for rape cases, with 1,195 cases registered, ranking seventh highest. In the category of Child for Pornography and Storing Child Pornography Material, Odisha and Karnataka jointly reported 30 cases, the fourth highest count nationwide. Odisha also recorded the fourth-highest number of cases of assault on women with intent to outrage her modesty, which stood at 9,367 cases, and, critically, the highest crime rate under this category at 40.6 in 2023.
According to the NCRB’s Crime In India 2023 report, 5,611 cases of kidnapping and abduction of women were registered in Odisha during 2023. While the state ranks seventh in the volume of these cases, its crime rate (24.3) is the second highest in the country, surpassed only by the national capital, Delhi (39.5).
