New Delhi: Kerala is the most literate state in the country but when it comes to posting obscene articles or photos on the internet, people from God's own country seem to be also on top, if one goes by government data.

27 per cent (136) of the 496 cases of obscene publication registered in the country last year were from the southern state, topping the list in this regard.

Around 55 per cent of the 245 cyber crime cases reported last year were from Kerala.

According to the 'Crime in India 2011' report released recently by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Kerala is way ahead of Andhra Pradesh which came second with 52 cases followed by Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh with 40 cases each.

In a list of 53 cities having a population of over one lakh, Kerala's commercial capital Kochi ranked fourth with 12 cases of obscene publication and was behind Bengaluru (19), Jodhpur (15) and Ludhiana (13). There were seven cases from Malappuram, five from Kozhikode and four each from Kerala's capital Thiruvananthapuram and Trissur among others.

Keralites also used the cyber world to indulge in eve- teasing or harassing women with a motive in 85 cases registered, second only to Andhra Pradesh (98) in this connection. While 13 cases in Kerala related to settling scores, in 32 it was for money.

At the all-India level, the report said cyber crimes went up by a whopping 67 per cent last year in the country while the number of those arrested for such incidents rose by 140 per cent.

According to the report, the number of such cases touched 2,213 (registered under IT Act and IPC sections) in 2011 from 1,322 the previous year.