Of the 53 cases filed against civic bodies for deaths owing to negligence across India, 18 were from Bengaluru alone. In total, 21 cases were filed against civic agencies in Karnataka.
Among the 19 metropolitan cities, 21 cases were filed against civic bodies for lapses that resulted in the deaths of citizens. Only one such case was registered in Mumbai and two in Delhi.
In 2018, a total of 40 cases were booked against civic bodies and the number rose to 147 in 2019.
Prostitution cases
The highest number of cases for carrying out prostitution in or in the vicinity of public places was reported from Karnataka in 2020. Of the total 112 cases booked under Section 7 of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 across India, 44 were from Karnataka, followed by Maharashtra with 21 cases. Section 7 of the Act penalises any person who carries on doing prostitution and also books the person with whom such an act is carried out.
Geetha M., secretary of Sadhana Mahila Sangha which works towards preventing violence against sex workers, said that the city police were “unecessarily” booking cases against sex workers even though they do not solicit people in public places. Overall, 12,680 crimes were reported against women in 2020, a decrease from 13,828 cases in 2019.
As many as 1,398 crimes against persons from Scheduled Castes were registered in Karnataka in 2020, a drop from from 2019 where 1,504 cases were booked. As for Scheduled Tribes, 293 crimes/atrocities were booked in Karnataka in 2020 compared to 327 cases in 2019.
