Nearly 290 incest cases reported in 2010: Govt

Minister of State for Home Affairs Jitendra Singh told Rajya Sabha that out of the total of 288 cases of incest, 37 were in Orissa, 24 in Rajasthan and 21 each in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh among others.

It said 15 cases of incest were registered in Haryana, 14 in Kerala, 13 in Assam, 11 each in Jharkhand and Uttarakhand, eight in Meghalaya and four each in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh among others.

According to the reply, no such case was registered in Jammu and Kashmir, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadar and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Lakshawdeep, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Tamil Nadu and Tripura.

A total of 321 incest cases were registered in 2009, followed by 309 in 2008, 405 in 2007 and 431 in 2006 across the country. A highest of 750 such cases were registered in 2005.

"Ministry of Women and Child Development has already introduced 'The protection of Children from Sexual offences Bill 2011' in Rajya Sabha on March 23, 2011. The main aim of the bill is to address sexual abuse of children. The bill also provides for stringent punishment to offenders," Singh added.