Kollam: One-third of child sex abuse crimes happen at the houses of the victims and the cases in which close relatives of the victims were arraigned as the accused are on the rise, revealed an annual report prepared by the State Child Right Commission.
Of the total 3,300 cases reported during the period, 1,015 incidents took place in the respective homes of the victims. Schools became the place of abuse in 35 cases, while 19 were reported each from the child protection centers and religious institutions.
The relatives of victims were arraigned as accused in 829 cases. As many as 71 teachers, from schools, private tuition centers, and religious educational institutions too were booked in this connection.
Among the relatives booked as accused in such cases, 394 persons belonged to the close relative category (father, mother, grandfather, step-father or step-brother etc). In 565 cases, the accused were identified to be neighbours of the victims, while, the victims were unable to identify the culprits in 578 cases. The situation remains almost the same in the report for the previous year.
The relationship between the victims and their abusers is recorded under different heads such as those the child could identify, those driving vehicles carrying the children, lovers, those yet to be identified, etc.
The majority of the children who were subjected to abuse during the period were in the age groups of 15-18 and 10-14. While men constituted 92 percent of the culprits, women were arraigned as accused in four percent of the cases. The police have not properly marked the gender of culprits in the remaining four percent of cases.
Recommendations yet to be implemented
Even as cases involving close relatives as accused and the number of abuses reported in houses of victims surge, the recommendations put forth by the Shafeekh Committee report, such as vulnerability mapping, are yet to be implemented effectively in the state.
The report called for observing the children who could be vulnerable to abuse and ensuring their security. Majority of child sexual abuse cases in the state are reported during the vacation period.
