Chandigarh, Oct. 2 -- As many as 102 rape cases were reported in Chandigarh in 2023, with 70 (69%) of the victims being minors, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report released on Tuesday shows. Of all the minor rape victims, 40 girls were aged between 16 and 18 while 23 were aged between 12 and 16 (see box). The report shows that 21 women were in the 18 to 30 age group. Further, the report notes that in 101 of the 102 cases, the offender was known to the victim. In 74 of these cases, the perpetrators were friends, online friends or live-in-partners, who had committed the act on the pretext of marriage. In 21 of 102 cases, the perpetrators were family friends, neighbours or employers. In six cases, the act was committed by family members. The city also reported a total of 371 cases of crime against women with a total of 382 victims. Crime rate for crime against women was 65.2, calculated as the instances per one lakh population, which makes it easier to compare different UTs and states regardless of their population numbers. Amongst UTs, Delhi has the highest rate of crimes against women at 133.6 while among states and Telangana has the highest rate at 124.9. The number of crime against women cases saw an increase over the years. As per the report, as many as 343 cases were registered in 2021, 325 cases in 2022 and the number increased to 371 cases in 2023. For the criminal cases of crime against women, the conviction rate of Chandigarh is 22.2%, just above the national average of 21.2%. The pendency rate of these cases is 78.8% which is lower than the national average of 90.8%. Similarly, the city saw an increase in crime against children over the years as well. In 2021, as many as 234 such cases were registered in the city while in 2022, as around 224 such cases were registered. In 2023, the city also reported a total of 294 cases of crime against children. The rate of crime against children is higher than the rate of crime against women, at 90.7. This is higher than the overall rate which is 39.9. AmongUTs, Andaman and Nicobar Islands are highest with crime rate of 143.4 and among states Assam is the highest with crime rate of 84.2. The UT also has the highest rate of crime against senior citizens among all states and UTs. As many as 31 cases of cheating with senior citizens as victims were registered in 2023, bringing the crime rate to 46.2. This is the highest among all states and UTs. The national average crime rate for this is 2.6. Overall, for crimes against senior citizens, a total of 67 cases were registered in 2023 in UT, while the total rate of crime against seniors was 99.9 which is much higher than the national average of 26.9. As many as 17 cases of murder were registered in Chandigarh in 2023. Six of these were over petty quarrels and disputes while five were for family disputes. Of 17 cases, as many as 10 victims were aged between 18 and 30. The report also shows that 13 of the total 17 victims were male while only four of the victims were female....