Stalking women, bullying them online: Most cases registered in Maharashtra

Apart from crimes related to women, the state registered maximum cases in the category of “offences related to religion” and cases against people for “deterring a public servant from performing duty”. Maharashtra also saw the highest cases of robberies, thefts and motor vehicle thefts.

In terms of total offences registered under the Indian Penal Code, Maharashtra was the second in the state after Uttar Pradesh, recording 3.74 lakh offences as against UP at 4.01 lakhs.

An officer from Maharashtra police said that the increased number of cases is indicative of the fact that the police is not shying away from registering complainants to reduce numbers.

When it came to cyber stalking/cyber bullying of women, Maharashtra topped the country with 578 such cases registered last year. Cyber stalking/bullying of children made up 52 cases.

The state also saw 230 cases of Voyeurism (354-C Indian Penal Code), 2,557 cases of stalking (sec 354D) and 239 cases of human trafficking. Maharashtra also saw 5,209 cases of assault on women 2,946 cases of sexual harassment, and 12,260 cases of kidnapping.

Further the state registered the highest cases (2,153) when it came to causing hurt/deterring a public servant from performing his duty, ahead of UP which saw 1,507 such cases. Further, the state also saw 355 cases regarding “offences related to religion” (295-297 IPC sections).

When it came to theft, the state saw 92,928 cases. The state also saw 30,013 motor vehicle theft cases.

On offences related to crimes against members of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes, the state was second, while it was first with 11 cases when it came to offences registered under the Official Secrets Act.

In deaths due to road accidents, Maharashtra, with 14,999 victims, was third in the country, after UP and Tamil Nadu. When it came to hit-and-run cases where lives were lost, Maharashtra was third only to Madhya Pradesh and UP with 3632 lives lost and was second in deaths due to medical negligence as compared to UP with 17 lives lost.

Maharashtra was also on top when it came to cases (220) related to foeticide, infanticide, miscarriage and abandonment. The state also topped the country when it came to cases (51) over rioting by farmers, and water disputes.

The Courts in the state were second highest across the country in terms of pendency of trial in cyber offences while the state was fourth highest when it came to pendency of investigation in cyber offences.