INDIA
The New Indian Express
By Ajay Kanth | Express News Service | Published: 12th March 2017
KOZHIKODE: A spurt in child sexual abuse cases was recorded for the period February- March 2017. “It’s an anomaly”. “Blame poor policing”. “The numbers are inflated”. This was the common refrain that echoed from the pulpit of newsrooms and through screaming headlines.
Sadly, reality lies somewhere far away. The spurt in abuse cases cannot be bracketed to a particular period or month or shrugged off as a ‘rare phenomenon’. It is unequivocally a sickening trend prevailing in Kerala right from 2013.
Ever since the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) came into being, sexual offences of all nature against children were registered under this Act. Data with police reveals the number of POCSO cases have been on the rise since 2013.
Even if we analyse the number of cases in the first quarter of each year between 2013 and 2017, we could see a steady spike in cases registered between January and March. Senior police officers said the scenario in Kerala has been really disturbing for the last couple of years and the sudden hype in the media is the fallout of a campaign unleashed by people with vested interests.
“The Kottiyoor rape incident involving a priest has triggered a chain reaction. And catching on the trend, details of other cases started hogging the media limelight.
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