378326

as of 2020

sourced from the National Crime Records Bureau

Ministry of Home Affairs

“Crimes in India 2020”

Written by: Myesha Phukan

Edited by: Chloe Chen and Wendy Zheng

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crimes committed against women in india

219

murder + rape cases

7045

dowry death cases

62300

kidnapping + abduction cases

28046

rape cases

2640

rape cases committed against girls under 18

86745

assaults on women with intent to “outrage her modesty”

111549

cases of cruelty by the husband or his relatives

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as girls, we are taught to keep our heads down

but our eyes forward

to stay hidden

from the tendrils of evil

that try to wrap around us

we are taught to cover ourselves in swaths of fabrics

and if even a sliver of skin peeks out

we must clothe it in darkness again

but even with all of

the “precautionary measures”

taken—

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who’s next?