Crimes against women high in Villupuram district

VILLUPURAM: Villupuram seems to have turned into an unfriendly district for women with the district recording the highest number of cases of rape, kidnap, abduction of women and young girls and dowry harassment, among the north zone districts in the State. On the contrary, Thiruvallur district has recorded the lowest number of crimes against women with a total of 89 in 2011.According to details availed from the police department, a total of 2,044 cases of rape, molestation, dowry death and kidnap have been registered in north zone — Vellore, Tiruvannamalai, Kancheepuram, Cuddalore, Thiruvallur and Villupuram districts — in 2011. Of this, as many as 900 cases including 86 cases of rape and 274 cases of molestation, 187 abductions and 167 dowry harrassment cases  - were registered in Villupuram district. The district has also recorded the highest number of dowry harassment cases. Of 314 cases of dowry harassment in the north zone district, 167 cases have been booked in Villupuram alone. With 57 cases, Cuddalore has recorded the second highest number of dowry harassment  cases, while Kancheepuram and Thiruvallur districts have seen the least number of dowry harassment cases - nine and 12 cases respectively.Of the 39 dowry deaths reported last year in the north zone, 16 cases were from Cuddalore, seven each in Villupuram and Thiruvallur districts, and six in Vellore. Interestingly, when it came to eve-teasing, only Vellore district recorded 10 cases with not a single case being reported from any of the other districts. The police department has also registered a total of 690 cases under various sections of Women Harassment Act.Since January this year, a total of 35 rapes, 36 molestations, 79 kidnap and abductions and 42 dowry harassment cases have been reported in north zone.