The Chink In The Armour

While crime against women is generally low in most parts of the Northeast, Assam has continued to register high numbers, year after year.

- Manjum Mahanta

India’s Northeast is home to some of the most inspiring women role models in the country and world today. Home to icons such as Mary Kom, who has dominated the world boxing scene for many years despite coming from humble beginnings; Anshu Jansempa, mother of two, who created history by becoming the second woman in the world to scale the summit of Mount Everest twice in a season; Birubala Rabha who has spent her life fighting against witch hunting, and Dipa Karmakar who became the first Indian gymnast to win a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in 2014, the region boasts of many more women achievers.

In comparison, to their counterparts elsewhere in the country, women here enjoy relative safety and freedom to follow their dreams and this has largely helped in shaping NorthEast’s image as being women friendly. However, the crime figures released by the National Crime Records Bureau incriminates Assam as the second in the country based on crime rates and the highest in the country for crime against women for cognizable crimes. As compared to the 20,869 cases recorded in Assam, a total of only 2,383 cases were recorded in 2016 for the rest of the states in the region. Of late, the steady increase in crime figures especially against women in NE’s biggest state, Assam has everyone worried and also questions the notion of safety of women in the Northeast.

The Fact File

In the 2016 Crime Statistics report by the National Crime Records Bureau, it was revealed that six of the eight states in the Northeast witnessed an increase in the number of crimes with Assam leading the list. But all is not bleak, as Manipur and Mizoram registered a downward trend.