Rape, murder cases increased in Odisha in 2018, but crime rate

The number of rape and murder cases in Odisha increased in 2018 when compared with the year before, Minister of State for Home D S Mishra said in the Assembly on Monday.

He, however, refused to agree with the opposition's assertion that the overall crime rate in the state has reached alarming proportions.

The minister, while replying to a written question of Congress Legislature Party leader Narasingha Mishra, said 1,378 cases of murder were registered in Odisha in 2018, a jump from 1,267 the year before.

The state has recorded 563 murders up to May-end 2019, he stated during the Zero Hour.

Similarly, the number of rape cases also increased to 2,502 in 2018 from 2,221 in 2017. In 2019, a total of 937 rape cases have been recorded till May, he noted.

A statement annexed with the ministers reply said 17,528 cases of rape and 13,246 murders have been registered in Odisha between 2010 and May, 2019.

The Congress Legislature Party leader, in his written question, suggested that crime in the state has reached "alarming" level.

The state minister, however, said, "It is not true that crime rate has alarmingly increased in the state."