For the fair sex, a dangerous trend looks evolving in Odisha. The rate of crime against women in Odisha has acquired notoriety to such an extent that the State seems worse than the infamous Uttar Pradesh.Shocking enough is raging incidents of procuring and selling girls for prostitution in Odisha. The State in 2014 figured in the top 5 nationally, where minor girls were sold for prostitution.Not enough, Odisha accomplished another dubious ranking by figuring in top 10 that recorded maximum cases of procuring girls for prostitution in the country. Significantly, incidents under the Indecent Representation of Women Prohibition Act have clocked a rise in 2014. Overall, the State figured in the top 10 that recorded maximum incidents of crime against women in the country.

This gloomy outlook about prevailing women security in Odisha has come to fore in the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) - 2014 report. Recording of such crimes in the State indicates to an inter-State racket at work that poses a big challenge for the State police machinery.Data available with the NCRB reveals that Odisha for the first time in recent years has prominently figured along with its neighbouring States like Bihar and Jharkhand to register incidence of selling of minors for prostitution in the country last year. Odisha accounts for around 10 per cent of total such cases in the country. Similarly, the State accounts for over one-fifth of over 3,000 incidents of procurement of minor girls in the country. Here too Bihar and Jharkhand along with Assam account for over 70 per cent of such cases registered nationally. In tandem, the crime rate (total incidents per lakh women population in State) of kidnapping and abductions of women in Odisha hovers at around 8 against around 10 in Uttar Pradesh.

Though Odisha has recorded 2,011 rapes in 2014 at a rate of 5 per day, with over 90 per cent cases coming out to be committed by known persons, the aforesaid indicators together throw a real challenge to the State police. However, with a total of around 17,000 incidents of crime against women in the State in 2014, the crime rate hovers at around 80 against over 35 in Uttar Pradesh. Though the State contributes to around 4.5 per cent of women population in the country, it shares around 6.5 per cent of total crime against women in the country.Odisha figured among the top 5 States that recorded most rape cases.  With around 11 assaults per day on women with the intention to outrage their modesty, the State figured at the 8th place nationally.

Odisha also figured in the top 10 States nationally that have recorded most crimes under the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act.  The State was 4th in the country with maximum dowry related deaths, but zooms to second with most cases registered under the Dowry Prohibition Act.Angul, Baleswar, Mayurbhanj, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapada, Ganjam and Puri contribute the maximum incidents of crime against women in the State. Baleswar figures prominently in dowry deaths. Mayubhanj, Angul, Puri, Bhadrak, Kendrapada, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack along with Baleswar figure high in kidnapping, selling and procurement in the State.