Sexual assaults in 2017 compared with 2016: Punjab fares better than KP with 11pc decline

KARACHI: A total of 12,661 cases of raping girls, boys and women were reported during the period 2014-17 in Sindh, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

There has been fluctuation in the rate of crime during this period but Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa witnessed 11 per cent and 4 per cent decrease respectively in 2017 when compared with 2016. However, there has been a 7 per cent increase in Sindh.

Sindh also recorded 38 per cent rise in sexual assault cases during 2015 when compared with 2014, while both Punjab and Sindh experienced 1 per cent increase during the same year. Punjab has best system to compile record of crimes in the country.

According to details, 237 rape cases were reported in Sindh during 2014 and 326 in 2015, meaning a 38 per cent increase. The figures in Punjab for the two years were 2,711 and 2,737 respectively, which means there was a 1 per cent increase in sexual assaults in 2015 against the previous year.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, on the other hand, recorded 136 cases in 2014 and 138 in 2015, again representing a 1 per cent increase. Similarly, Sindh witnessed 271 cases in 2016 against 326 in 2015, representing a 17 per cent decrease.

Punjab, meanwhile, saw a 7 per cent increase with 2,942 cases in 2016 against 2,737 in 2015. But there was a 1 per cent decrease in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as the number of cases reported in 2016 was 136 against 138 in 2015.

While comparing the year 2016 with 2017, one can notice 7 per cent increase in the reported cases in Sindh — 289 in 2017 and 271 in 2016. But Punjab experienced an 11 per cent decrease from 2,942 in 2016 to 2,608 in 2017. Similarly, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa too saw decline in the trend with a 4 per cent decrease – 130 in 2017 against 136 in 2016.