From child marriage to sexual assault and murder, crimes against minors perpetuated by their family members over the last few months point towards a disturbing trend. As many as four such cases have been reported in the district in the last five days alone.
Home is not a safe place for numerous toddlers, children and teenagers anymore, more so for girls, as they are stalked by sexual predators, smothered in infancy or married off against their wishes at the earliest convenience.
Teenaged girls are already vulnerable to be kidnapped on the pretext of marriage in the district as evidenced by a report of the National Crime Records Bureau. Of the 195 cases of kidnapping reported in the city in 2019, 175 victims were minors and of the 62 rape cases reported in 2019, 17 victims were minors.
Children are often brutally thrashed on making small mistakes in several families. As per Dr Rajiv Sharma, consultant psychologist, as children are physically weak, they are easy to overpower and manipulate, which makes them easy targets.
“In most of cases, it was seen that the reason for children being abused by family members was drug abuse, lack of education and financial instability. Child marriage has been mostly observed in low-income families,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}“In most of cases, it was seen that the reason for children being abused by family members was drug abuse, lack of education and financial instability. Child marriage has been mostly observed in low-income families,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}In case of sexual assault on minors, the abusers are mostly under the influence of drugs or liquor, Sharma said, adding that such incidents leave a lasting impact on the psyche of children.
Commissioner of police Rakesh Agrawal said, “We make it a point to act immediately in cases involving minors and women. We have trained officials to deal with these cases sensitively.”