No country for women, still

The latest data from India's National Crime Records Bureau showed a staggering 4.5 lakh cases of crimes against women in 2023, marginally up from the previous two years.

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That's the last calendar year for which data from across the country has been collated and disseminated; it may well have gone up in the past two years, but we will not know that for sure for another year or two at least. This is no small matter, nor can it be dismissed by pointing a finger at the country’s large population. Expectedly, Uttar Pradesh topped the tally with more than 66,380 cases, while Maharashtra and Rajasthan registered 47,100 and 45,450 cases, respectively. This can be a tad misleading because UP and Maharashtra are also among India’s most populated states. In the top five were West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh too.