GUWAHATI: Assam government on Monday informed the State Assembly that more than 1700 women and minor girls had died in incidents of rape, murder, dowry and witch hunting in the state since 2006.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary, informed the House during the Question Hour that out of the total 1773 such deaths, dowry-related deaths accounted for 1606, 53 women were raped and murdered while another 34 minor girls were victims of rape-and-murder. Witch hunting claimed lives 80 women in the state during the period.
The districts of Nagaon, Karimganj and Barpeta recorded high incidence of dowry-related deaths while highest number of witch hunting deaths was reported from Kokrajhar district in Western Assam.
