Figures released by the Fiji Police Force shows an alarming increase in the number of Rapes and Unnatural offences reported from the Northern Division.

There was a 146 percent increase in the reported Rape cases in 2008 compared to 2007. There were 32 reported cases of Rape from the Northern Division last year compared to 13 in 2007.

Reported cases of unnatural offences which include Sodomy went up by 200 percent in the Northern Division last year while Eastern and Western Division recorded a decrease of 80 and 25 percent respectively.

Figures also show that injuring an animal went up by 44 percent in the North while cases of fighting in a public place went up by 500 percent.