AP Director General of Police (DGP) Gautam Sawang on Tuesday released the annual crime statistics report for the year 2021 at Mangalagiri in Vijayawada.
The DGP said that Andhra Pradesh saw a 21% increase in crimes against women in 2021 compared to last year. The cases were at 17,736 in 2021, while it was 14,603 in 2020. The crimes against women constitute 14% of the overall crimes in the state, as per the data.
As per Mr Sawang, the highest number of crimes were reported in the urban areas of Vijayawada, Tirupati, Visakhapatnam, Guntur, Prakasam, and East and West Godavari districts. He said that women come forward and report the crimes with the help of police outreach programmes, and the Disha app. “52% of women filed complaints during the Spandana programme. More cases will be registered in the coming days and we need to prepare for that,” said the DGP.
“15,715 Zero FIRs were registered. FIRs were registered in 75 rape cases and 1,061 sexual assault cases within 7 days. 1,551 charge sheets were registered in cyberbullying cases,” he added.
As per the data provided by the state police, the conviction rate in the state also increased in 2021 from the previous year’s four-five life sentences. “49.4% in 2017, 52.6% in 2018, 38.4% in 2019 and 69.7% in 2020 and 75.09% were convicted in 2021.”