Sex-offenders' registry coming next month

With an aim to name and shame those involved in crimes against women, a national registry of sex offenders will be launched next month, officials said today.

The move comes against the backdrop of a nearly three-percent increase in crimes against women and a 12-percent rise in rapes in 2016 as compared to 2015.

"The national registry of crimes against women will be launched next month. The records are being sourced from the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS)," a senior Union Home Ministry official said.

The National Crime Records Bureau will be the nodal agency to maintain the sex-offenders' registry. It will help the law-enforcement agencies in identifying the repeat offenders, while people, too, would be aware of those involved in sex crimes, the official said.

According to NCRB data, as many as 38,947 rape cases were registered in 2016, against 34,651 in 2015. Overall crimes against women rose from 3,29,243 in 2015 to 3,38,954 in 2016.

A majority of cases categorized as crimes against women were reported under cruelty by husband or his relatives (32.6 percent), followed by an assault on a woman with intent to outrage her modesty (25 percent), kidnapping and abduction of women (19 percent), and rape (11.5 percent).

Madhya Pradesh reported the highest number of rape cases (4,882) in 2016, followed by Uttar Pradesh (4,816) and Maharashtra (4,189).

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