Bangalore retains its position as the second-most unsafe city for women in India, after Delhi, for the second consecutive year. This has been revealed by the just-released statistics of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) for 2012.

Bangalore recorded 2,263 crimes against women in 2012, up by 373 compared to the previous year. This makes up 6.18 per cent of all crimes against women in 53 major cities that are compared by NCRB.

Delhi tops yet again

The silver lining, though, is that the city recorded less than half the crimes compared to Delhi, which tops with 5,194 cases, contributing 14.18 per cent to the overall share.

Bangalore, worryingly, finds itself in the top slot with several heinous crimes against women among the 53 megacities. It reported 90 cases of rape (2.98 per cent of crimes in 53 cities), while Delhi predictably remained at the top with 585 cases and a percentage share of 19.34.

Bangalore, with Mumbai, is at the second position in cases of immoral trafficking, while Chennai is at the top. The IT Capital reported 51 dowry deaths in 2012, the third highest after Delhi and Patna.

Rise in numbers

When crimes across Karnataka are taken into account, there is a rise in absolute numbers over the previous year. Crimes such as rape, dowry deaths and immoral trafficking saw a rise.

While in 2011, Karnataka recorded 9,594 crimes against women, corresponding figures for 2012 is 10,366.

However, the State, which ranked 10th in 2011, is now 11th in terms of its overall share to the national rate of crimes against women.

Commenting on the overall crimes against women in megacities, the report says: “The proportion of IPC crimes committed against women under total IPC crimes has increased during last five years from 8.9 per cent in 2008 to 9.4 per cent during 2012.”