Jaipur: As the Ashok Gehlot led Congress government in Rajasthan completes a year in office, the number of cases registered relating to crime against women in 2019 has seen an increase of 49.14% from 2018 and 61.01% from 2017, when the state was under the Bhartiya Janta Party.

According to crime data released by the state’s director general of police (DGP) Bhupendra Singh on Monday, a total of 41,155 cases of crimes against women had been registered in 2019 in Rajasthan. In 2018, the number stood at 27,594.

Molestation cases have seen the maximum increase with 8,802 cases being registered in 2019. This number is 67.69% more than the corresponding cases registered in 2018 and 80.26% more than those registered in 2017.

Rape cases also recorded an increment of about 38% from 2018. In fact, the 5,997 rape cases lodged in 2019 is 81.45% more than the number registered in 2017.

The cases registered against children under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) in 2019 were 44% higher than the number reported in 2018. In other offences against women, the increase was 31.08%.

However, the DGP said registering every FIR was the prime factor behind the increase. “The cases have gone up but the prime reason behind this is easy accessibility to police. We are registering every case,” Singh said in a press conference in Jaipur.

“Our focus in 2019 was on ensuring that every case is registered and no grievance gets left unattended. We took effective action against organised crimes last year,” he added.

He also said that priority was to focus on crimes against women and children.

“A special investigation unit for crimes against women was set up in every district and a serious frauds investigation unit along with a cyber crime unit were formed in special operations group (SOG) last year,” said Singh.