Chennai :

Claiming that Tamil Nadu was the safest state for women in the country, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Wednesday told the Assembly that sexual crimes had halved since she took charge in 2011. Listing the steps taken to ensure the safety and security of women, she maintained that the rising number of police complaints being filed by women evidenced this.

This assertion came in response to the insinuation that rapes were increasing in Tamil Nadu, made by DMDK member VC Chandhirakumar, during the debate on the Police and Fire & Rescue Services Departments.

“Since this government took charge in 2011, police personnel have been ordered to pay special attention and work expeditiously on crimes against women. This work is happening as per the 13-point plan I had formulated following the gang rape incident in Delhi,” she said.

“I can categorically state that crimes against women have reduced greatly since I took charge as Chief Minister for the third time. Not only crimes against women, all sorts of crime have reduced. I can proudly say Tamil Nadu is the safest state for women in India,” the CM added.

Jayalalithaa backed up this claim by citing statistics, showing that dowry harassment cases had come down from 165, at the end of the previous DMK regime, in 2010 to 118 in 2013. Sexual crimes had halved between 2010 and 2013, from 638 to 313, registering steep falls in every year in between.

However, she said the biggest indicator of increasing safety for women in the State was evident from the number of cases they had come forward to file. “Cases registered under the Dowry Prevention Act were 199 in 2010, 195 in 2011, 277 in 2012 and 305 in 2013. The very fact that women are feeling secure enough to come forward to file complaints is a testament to this government’s track record in ensuring action on complaints. Under the previous minority DMK government, they were not filing complaints as they knew no action would be taken,” she said, adding that it was her previous administration that had, in 1992, started All Women Police Stations in State.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Tamil Nadu / by Express News Service / August 07th, 2014