The city which is known to be one of the safest for children is turning out to be a place of nightmare. According to the data issued by National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), 196 cases were recorded under Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses(POCSO) Act were lodged in Ahmedabad in 2016.
Of these, 139 cases were of minors being raped, 21 21 of them were reported to be sexually assaulted. Also, 7 cases of unnatural activities were reported against children were registered.
For instance, one eight-year-old girl was molested by a 60-year-old doctor in his clinic in Isanpur area last Thursday. The incident took place when the girl went to his clinic alone. The doctor took her to an adjacent room, where he held her hand and zipped his pants down to flash his private parts.
In 80 per cent of such cases, the accused turned out to someone known to the victims, which includes mostly relatives, neighbours, friends etc. Binal Patel, the city coordinator of Childline of an NGO that works to protect the rights of children, said that she has known a lot of cases where children are abused daily.
The one who abuses the kids are mostly in acquaintance, she said.
"It is often the relatives, friends of the family, neighbours or people in school whom the child is in touch with who abuse them," said Patel, adding that in many cases the child is being abused over a period before s/he opens up to her/his parents.
The trigger is often when parents discover the physical signs of sexual abuse or molestation," said Patel. In many cases, the relatives even ignore the case because the incident involves members of the same of extended families, she said. "We know of a case in which an orphan girl was sexually abused by her uncle. But, her relatives asked her to stay mum," she said.
According to NCRB data, 481 cases of crime against children were reported in Ahmedabad in 2016. Of them, 196 cases were reported under POCSO Act, which is 40.74 per cent. While in 2015, 609 cases of crime against children were reported where 191 cases were of POCSO, 173 out of 437 cases were registered under POCSO Act in 2014.
Cases in 2017
October 31: A 6-year-old boy was kidnapped and sodomised by a 21-year-old, who spotted the victim playing near his house. The crime took place in Odhav area of the city. Finally, the accused was caught redhanded by the victim’s uncle and was handed over to police.
On September 14: Principal of a municipal English medium school, near Shankar Bhuvan, in Shahpur, was nabbed by Shahpur police for raping an eight-year-old student of his school.
March 17: Two teenage sisters, both around 15 years old, were gang-raped by six in a running car in Dahod. The accused wanted to punish the family after the girl’s brother accused one of them of bootlegging.
POCSO cases filed in Gujarat
2016
1408 cases
1414 victims
2015
1416 cases
1424 victims
POCSO cases lodged in Ahmedabad
2016
196 cases
196 victims
2015
191 cases
191 victims
2014
173 cases
173 victims
Crime chart of cases filed under POCSO Act in Ahmedabad
Child Raped
139 cases
139 victims
Sexual Assualt
21 cases
21 victims
Other POCSO cases
35 cases
35 victims
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