MHA: 5 lakh entries in sex offenders’ registry

New Delhi, February 24

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The National Registry of Sex Offenders (NRSO), a portal maintained by the National Crime Records Bureau and can be accessed only by law enforcement agencies, has so far got names of over  5 lakh persons, who have been convicted of crime against women.

Sources in the government said the NRSO has a database of offenders convicted under charges of rape, gang-rape, eve teasing and the POCSO Act. “As of now, we have uploaded details of over 5 lakh sex offenders,” said a Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) official. “The database includes name, address, photograph and fingerprint details for each entry, but there will be no compromise on privacy," the official said.

The records are being sourced from the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems, an ambitious MHA programme to maintain a database of crimes and criminals.

India is among the few countries such as the US, the UK, Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and Trinidad & Tobago that maintain a sex offenders' list, another official said, adding the US is the only country where the sex offender registry can be accessed by the public.

According to the NCRB statistics, 38,947 rape cases were registered in 2016, against 34,651 in 2015. The overall cases of crime against women rose from 3,29,243 in 2015 to 3,38,954 in 2016. — TNS