Rape is the fourth most common crime in India. The level of rape cases in the country is rising at an alarming rate. It is learnt that most of the rape cases were committed by someone known to the victim.
Not a long ago, the entire nation was shocked by the heinous rape and murder of the veterinary doctor in Hyderabad and after which, the 6-year-old girl was raped and strangled to death by her school belt in Rajasthan and then another shocking atrocity happened when a 9-year-old girl was raped and strangled to death.
Then a Hyderabad-like rape and murder incident took place at Kumarganj, South Dinajpur in West Bengal. Then again a 46-year-old Thailand woman was raped in Kerala by two men. It has been learnt that the Thai national visited India in order to meet her child in Kerala but she was raped. In Tamil Nadu, a 14-year-old girl was allegedly raped by her own father for over three months.
Recently, on 14 September 2020, a Dalit woman was gang-raped in Hathras district allegedly by four upper caste men. After battling for her life for over two weeks, 19-year-old woman passed away in a Delhi hospital.
Just as when people across the country are figuring out which are the safest places for women in India, National Crime Record Board disclosed the latest data for safest cities for women. Kolkata, which is the cultural capital of India has been declared as the safest city for women in India. Kolkata topped the list of 19 cities in the country as the safest city for women.
This is indeed happy and good news especially for accomplished women travellers in the country. The NCRB report further stats Kolkata has recorded the least number (14) of cases of alleged sexual assault in the country and there were zero cases of sexual harassment in the city last year. Moreover, it did not register a single case of an attempt to commit rape. In addition, women who complained of sexual assault were above 18.
It should be noted that cases of sexual assault come under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Senior police official in Kolkata said that they are giving absolutely everything to ensure that women in the city are safe.
Patna and Coimbatore follow next on the list of lesser number of cases of recorded in terms of sexual assault. As far as Coimbatore is concerned, only one case was reported. In Patna, 13 cases of sexual assault were reported. Kolkata and Coimbatore recorded no cases of sexual harassment.