New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh, followed by Kerala, topped the list of states where the maximum number of cases was registered for gay sex under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which was partly struck down by the Supreme Court last week.
Altogether, 4,690 cases were registered between 2014 and 2016 under Section 377, which criminalised sexual activities “against the order of nature”.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), as many as 2,195 gay sex cases were registered under Section 377 in 2016, 1,347 in 2015 and 1,148 cases in 2014.
Uttar Pradesh topped the list in 2016, with 999 such cases, followed by Kerala 207. In Delhi, 183 cases were registered under Section 377 and in Maharashtra 170 such cases were registered.
According to the NCRB data, in 2015, the highest number of cases under Section 377 was registered in Uttar Pradesh at 239.
However, among the 1,347 cases registered in the country in 2015, in 814 cases, the victims were children. Among these 814 cases, 179 were in Uttar Pradesh, 142 in Kerala, 116 in Maharashtra and 63 in Haryana.
Those accused of consensual gay sex and facing trial or whose petitions are under review can breath easy now as the Supreme Court’s September 6 verdict, decriminalising part of Section 377 of the IPC, gives them a ray of hope, Home Ministry officials said. (PTI)
