Decadal numbers: Bengaluru registers most rape cases since 2012 in South India, followed by Hyderabad

The national capital Delhi continues to be at the top with a massive 13,400 cases registered followed by Mumbai (4,340 cases), Jaipur (3,135 cases), and Indore (1,476 cases).

Of the 19 cities with over 20 lakh population, nearly one-third in the report are from South India, including Chennai, Coimbatore, Kozhikode, and Kochi.

South Indian cities

In 2020, 108 rape cases were registered in Bengaluru, with the number ring to 117 in 2021, the NCRB report says. Overall, in the past decade, the maximum number of rape cases in Bengaluru — 322 — were registered in 2016.

For Hyderabad, 116 rape cases were reported in 2021 as compared to 92 in the previous year. The highest number of rape cases in Hyderabad in the past 10 years was registered in 2019 — 184 cases.

The average number of rape cases registered in a year in Bengaluru lies at 131 and in Hyderabad at 112.

While pointing out that the increased reporting of rape cases indicates that more women are coming out, Hyderabad-based activist S. Deepthi told South First, "There is no denial that eve-teasing and sexual assault cases are increasing, but it is good that the reporting is rising as earlier the women used to be scared to come out due to prestige and honour."

"However, while talking of rape we can't exclude pre-marital and marital rapes in child marriages."

She alleged that sexual violence is rampant in low-income areas like slums and ghettos due to substance abuse.

"Last year, a six-year-old was killed by a man after being raped. A lot of cases go unreported in such areas. Women also fear going to the police or courts as they do not have the resources to fight or a cushion that they can fall back upon. They also fear humiliating questions from police and lawyers. This happens more with Dalit women, who are several times more abused than Savarna women," said Deepthi who is working with the Dalit Women's Collective.

Kozhikode and Kochi in Kerala, and Chennai and Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu were the other South Indian cities where cases of rape registered were the highest in the last 10 years.

Right after Hyderabad was Kochi with 627 rape cases reported since 2012, and 73 cases reported in 2021.

It was followed by Tamil Nadu's capital Chennai where a total number of 476 cases were registered — 45 cases in 2021.

According to the report, both Kozhikode and Coimbatore were ranked next on the list with 417 and 61 rape cases committed against women over the past decade.

Other Indian cities

India's capital Delhi leads the table with an average of 1,340 rape cases registered every year, the report says.

While the highest number of cases were reported in 2016, 1,996 cases, Delhi saw 1,226 rape cases in 2021.

The financial capital of India, Mumbai, has been placed second on the table with 364 rape cases in 2021 as compared to 322 in 2020.

"Education has nothing to do with increasing rape cases in the urban society, which claims to be progressive. This is because of patriarchy, where boys are brought up with the mindset of objectification of girls. They tend to think girls are made to fulfill their sexual demands and if a girl denies, they can force it on her," Deepthi explained to South First.

About the role of police, Deepthi said that instead of filing a complaint of sexual violence and assault as a case of rape,  police file it as a case of cheating or domestic abuse.