Story of crimes against Indian women in five charts

n his address to the nation on India's 75th birthday last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for a "change in the mentality" towards women and asked citizens to fight misogyny.

"A distortion has crept in our conduct and we at times insult women. Can we take a pledge to get rid of this in our behavior," he suggested, urging people to "take a pledge to get rid of everything that humiliates women in everyday life".

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This was not the first time Mr. Modi had talked about gender equality and respect for women.

In his first Independence Day speech as prime minister in 2014, he had condemned rapes in India saying "when we hear about these rapes, our heads hang in shame".

After eight years under his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, data shows that crimes against women remain unabated.

The numbers show a consistent year-on-year rise, except in 2020 - the year when the Covid-19 pandemic swept India and a hard lockdown forced the country to shut down for months. Experts say it also impacted data collection.

In the year 2021 - for which the government released crime data last week - India recorded the highest number of crimes against women ever.

Activists say the rising graph is a matter of serious concern, but authorities say it's because there's better reporting now and more people are going to the police to register cases.