In 2020, 3,71,503 cases of crimes against women were registered across India, the Centre told Parliament on Wednesday, citing data from the National Crime Record Bureau.

Union Minister of Women and Child Development Smriti Irani shared the figures in a response to a question posed by Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP Jharna Das Baidya in Rajya Sabha.

Badiya had sought to know the number of cases pertaining to crimes against women registered in every state and if action had been taken to resolve the problems.

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In her reply, Irani said that 3,98,620 persons had been arrested for committing crimes against women, 4,88,143 had been chargesheeted and 31,402 were convicted.

The CPI(M) leader also wanted to know the number of cases in which justice was served and the steps taken by the Union government to expedite their proceedings.

Irani said that police and public order were state subjects under the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution.

“The responsibility to maintain law and order, protection of life and property of the citizens including investigation and prosecution of crime against women and children rests primarily with the respective State Governments,” she said.

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However, she said that the Union government had passed several laws and formulated schemes to protect women and children of the country.

According to the “Crime in India” report released by the National Crime Record Bureau in September, Uttar Pradesh saw 49,385 cases of crimes against women, which is the highest number in the country in 2020.

Last year, Rajasthan reported most of the rape cases at 5,310.

The overall rate of crimes against women was the highest in Assam (154.3) in 2020. The rate of crimes was lowest in Tamil Nadu at 17.4.

The majority of the cases registered in India were related to “cruelty by husband or his relatives” (30%), followed by “assault on women with intent to outrage her modesty” (23%). About 7.5% of the total crimes against women were rapes.