Chennai: Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa asserted on Wednesday that Tamil Nadu was the safest state for women in the country. She said that the police force was on duty round the clock and working expeditiously on complaints of crime, especially against women.
“Women are bravely coming forward to lodge complaints on crimes against them in my rule,” Ms Jayalalithaa said on Wednesday amidst thumping of tables by those on the treasury benches. Replying to allegations of the DMDK whip V.C. Chandra Kumar during a debate on the demand for grants for the police department, Ms Jayalalithaa said crimes against women were gradually decreasing in the state from 2011, when she took over as the CM.
“While there were 165 dowry deaths reported during the DMK rule in 2010, it came down to 118 in 2013, marking a decline of 28.48 per cent. Similarly, sexual assaults cases have also decreased,” she said. In 2010, the cases of sexual assaults were 638 and during 2013, there were only 313, which represented a 51 per cent decrease.
The CM said that while the complaints registered under Dowry Prohibition Act was 199, the same increased to 195 in 2011 and 277 in 2012 and 305 last year.
“It is only because protests are allowed to be held in the democratic way, a large number of them have happened,” Ms Jayalalithaa replied when Chandra Kumar pointed out that TN witnessed 12,232 protests in 2012, according to an annual report released by Bureau of Police Research and Development.
