JAIPUR: Rape cases in first five months of this year surpassed the numbers for the same period in the last two years in Rajasthan.
From January till May this year, the state police registered a total of 2,461 rape cases.
Last year, the number during the same period was 1,807.
In 2019, the state had logged 2,298 such cases in corresponding months.
The figures also show that compared to last year, the lockdown during the second wave did little to slow down rape cases.
In April last year, the state had recorded 193 rape cases.
In April this year, a staggering 494 rape cases were registered at different police stations of the state.
Rajasthan had entered a state of heightened curbs and restrictions in May.
Ideally, this should have created a deterrence leading to a decline in cases.
However, despite all the curbs on movements, 390 rape cases were registered last month, compared to 384 in the same month during last year when a similar lockdown was enforced.
Additional DG (crime) Ravi Prakash Meharda said unlike previous year, a staggering lockdown was enforced this year.
“There were curbs on movements of people.
But there were actually some exemptions in which people did step out,” he said.
The state police attributed the rise in cases to the mandatory FIR registration rule which made it difficult for local police stations to decline a complaint.
Also, in 2019, the SPs and DCPs were empowered to directly register FIR from their offices in case a police station turns away the complainant.
While the ease in the filing of FIRs may have pushed up rape figures in the state, increase in cases at a time when the state was under lockdown does raise questions.
“Police were completely engrossed in lockdown enforcement due to which there was a little room for other cases, inter-district travel had also become impossible,” said an official of the city police.