Himachal Pradesh has recorded the highest 59 per cent sexual assault cases against minor girls in 2020 as compared to 55 per cent of the total rape cases reported in 2019.

The findings have been revealed in the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report 2020 that was released on Wednesday.

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As per the NCRB report, 197 rape cases out of the total 331 involving 332 victims were committed against minor girls aged between 12-16 years age group in 2020.

In 2019, 198 cases of sexual assault against minor girls were reported out of the total 359 such incidents involving 361 victims in Himachal Pradesh.

However, the rape cases were down by 8.4 per cent in the state with 331 incidents involving 332 victims while 359 incidents involving 361 victims were reported in 2019.

The NCRB report further revealed that in 99.3 per cent of rape cases, the offenders were known to the victims.

Out of the total 331 cases, in 51 cases the accused were the family members, family friends, neighbours, employers and in 119 cases, the accused were friends, online friends, live-in partners or separated husbands.

In only two cases, the accused were unknown to the victims.

But as a whole, the crimes against women had dipped to 1,614 in 2020 across the state, marking a decline of 1.3 per cent as compared to 1,633 cases in 2019.

A total of 20,663 cases under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Special; Acts and Local Laws were recorded in 2020 as against 19,924 cases in 2019, marking an increase of 3.4 per cent.

Though the number of violent crime cases had decreased by 0.8 per cent to 1,817 as compared to 1,833 in 2019.

The murder cases had increased by 30 per cent with the state recording 91 such cases and 70 attempts to murder cases in 2020 as compared to 70 murder cases and 54 attempts to murder cases in 2019.

The state had also recorded a decrease of 32 per cent in kidnapping cases with a total of 343 cases reported in 2020 as compared to 455 cases in 2019.

There was also a decline reported in cases of culpable homicide not amounting to murder with only 10 cases recorded in the state in 2020 as compared to 19 such cases in the previous year.