According to crime report Sexual assaults and rape are the top crimes against scheduled castes (SCs) women in India.
Among India’s 29 states, multicultural Goa, ranked 26th by population, has the highest crime rate against SCs, next to Goa stands Uttar Pradesh which reported highest number of crimes against SCs.
According to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) “Crime in India 2014” report, there were 67 crimes against SCs in Goa—the state is 66% Hindu, 25% Christian and 8% Muslim–for every one lakh scheduled caste individuals, the data reveal. Goa is followed by Rajasthan (66) and Andhra Pradesh (49).
The major crime against SCs is assault on women to outrage her modesty (Section 354 IPC).
The section is further classified into sexual harassment (section 354A IPC), assault or use of criminal force with intent to disrobe (section 354B IPC), voyeurism (Section 354C IPC), stalking (Section 354D IPC) and others.
As many as 47,064 crimes against SCs were reported in 2014, according to NCRB, a 44% rise over five years, from 32,712 in 2010 to 47,064 in 2014.
Crimes against Dalits, recently hit the headlines.
A young Dalit writer escaped an attack in Karnataka by a group of men who threatened to chop off his hands for writing against the caste system.
In Haryana, upper-caste Rajputs burnt alive two Dalit children as revenge against their father.
Murder is the sixth-most committed crime against SCs with a total of 794 cases reported.