Even though Bangalore has been regarded as the third most unsafe city for women among the 53 mega cities in the country during 2013, up from the second position in 2012, the number of cases of crime against women has actually shot up.

According to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data for 2013 released recently, the number of cases pertaining to crime against women has shot up by 345 cases from 2,263 in 2012 to 2,608 in 2013.

Crime against women in the city accounts for 4.8 per cent of all crimes against women of the 53 mega cities.

This puts the city just below New Delhi and Mumbai in the number of cases reported on crimes against women. While Delhi tops the chart with 11,449 cases, Mumbai stands a distant second with 2,946 cases, closely followed by Bangalore with 2,608 cases.

The city registered 80 cases of rape in 2013, a drop by 10, from 90 in 2012. Worryingly, of the 642 abduction cases registered, in 538 cases the victims were women.

However, a senior police official here attributes the large number of cases to instances of elopement, where a girl’s parent lodges a complaint against the boy. Similarly, it is a practice to register a rape case if the girl is a minor. However, the city stands fourth in cases of molestation and outraging the modesty of women. It reported 378 cases in 2013, exceeded only by Kolkata, Mumbai and Delhi.

Sadly, the city also ranks third in dowry deaths. While Delhi again tops the chart with 125 dowry deaths, it is followed by Patna with 61 deaths and Bangalore recorded 52 dowry deaths in 2013.

Bangalore Police Commissioner Raghavendra H. Auradkar attributed the increase in the number of crimes against women to the amendments to laws dealing with crime against women.