Odisha Crime Data: 71,769 Cases Against Women Reported, 13,800+ Arrested

29 Sep 2026, 09:06 by Vinay Kakkad · KalingaTV

Bhubaneswar: Law enforcement agencies across Odisha recorded 71,769 complaints of offenses against women over a 26-month span starting in June 2024, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi stated on the floor of the state legislative assembly on Monday.

The data, presented as part of a formal written response to an inquiry raised by Congress legislator Sofia Firdous, reflects the crime workload faced by state authorities since the Bharatiya Janata Party assumed administrative control of the state government in June 2024.

Subsequent investigations across local police jurisdictions led to the detention of 13,806 suspects. State figures identify 13,319 of the accused as men, while 487 fall under the classification of women or transgender persons, as reported by PTI.

Chronological Breakdown of Case Registrations

The caseload spans three distinct reporting windows between mid-2024 and mid-2026:

June through December 2024: 18,013 cases lodged
2025: 32,687 cases lodged
January through July 2026: 21,069 cases lodged

Institutional Oversight and Legal Infrastructure

Addressing systemic responses, Majhi detailed that district superintendents of police alongside officers holding the rank of additional SP have been assigned direct supervisory duties over high-gravity cases, specifically incidents involving rape, offenses targeting minor girls, and acid attacks. To accelerate judicial outcomes in sexual crimes committed against minors, designated Special POCSO courts are currently active in 24 districts.

Digital harassment and online offenses directed at women are routed directly through the Crime Branch’s Children and Women Online Abuse Monitoring Unit.

Field Directives and Preventative Deployments

State authorities issued updated operational protocols this year aimed directly at suppressing mob violence, unlawful confinement, and street-level intimidation targeted at women. In high-footfall public zones, police presence has been reinforced via expanded patrols and the rollout of public surveillance camera networks across multiple districts to discourage criminal activity.

Public outreach has simultaneously been channeled through the Ama Police Samiti framework, a community policing program designed to provide women with safe environments to approach authorities without apprehension.

Planned Expansions

Administrative plans are underway to broaden institutional coverage throughout the state:

Creation of a state-level Anti-Human Trafficking Bureau
Deployment of additional Investigative Units on Crime Against Women (IUCAW) across five districts: Gajapati, Boudh, Deogarh, Nuapada, and Malkangiri
Establishment of an Integrated Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (IAHTU) within the newly carved Rairangpur police district