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Woman raped every half hour in India

A murder occurs every 16 minutes, attempt to murder every 19 minutes, riot every nine minutes and kidnapping and abduction every 23 minutes.

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NEW DELHI: A woman is raped every half an hour in India, while one is killed every 75 minutes -- usually burnt to death for not bringing a large enough dowry.   
 
Violence against children rose by nearly a quarter in 12 months and recorded cases of female foeticide increased by a half in 2004, according to the National Crime Records Bureau.   
 
Its latest report, based on 2004 data and obtained by Reuters on Wednesday, will be submitted to Parliament in July.   
 
The national capital, New Delhi, is the least safe place for women.
 
In 2004, it accounted for 30 percent of rapes recorded in the country's 35 major cities, according to the report.   
 
There were 457 rapes in the city out of 1,510 cases reported in the nearly three dozen main cities.   
 
A senior NCRB official said that although the statistics relate to 2004 -- due to poor data collection by state governments -- trends are unlikely to have changed much.   
 
“Generally speaking, we are unlikely to see any dramatic fall or rise in crime rates for 2005,” chief statistical officer CS Mishra, told Reuters.
 
“Crime against women has been on the rise for the past 10 to 15 years.”
 
According to a ‘crime clock’ prepared by the bureau, a rape occurred every 29 minutes and one case of cruelty by a husband and his relatives was recorded every nine minutes.    India's National Commission for Women, the agency that looks after womens' rights, said the statistics were not surprising.   
 
“The plight of women in India is very bad,” said Yasmin Abrar, a member of the commission.
 
“We have been fighting in many ways to improve their situation.”
 
Children are the other big victims of crime and, according to figures, crime against them increased by 24 percent in 2004 compared to the previous year.   
 
Foeticide cases rose by 50 percent.   
 
Prejudices against a girl child lead to female foeticide in many parts of India, especially in the northern states of Haryana and Punjab.   
 
Abrar said high crime figures reflected better reporting of incidents.
 
“More cases are being reported now. The overall crime data collection has improved over the years. That's why these numbers are coming,” she said. 
 
Among other crimes, a murder occurs every 16 minutes, an attempt to murder every 19 minutes, a riot every nine minutes and a kidnapping and abduction every 23 minutes, the NCRB said.   
 
Thefts occur almost every two minutes.   
 
Conviction rates in India for serious crimes like rape are low as victims are often reluctant to speak out due to social stigma and because of shoddy investigation by the police. 
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