'Broken' love stories give rise to rape cases in Bhubaneswar

BHUBANESWAR: The registration of rape cases in the city saw a sharp increase last year as compared to 2016, police sources said. While several survivors had been acquainted with the attackers in the form of romantic relationships gone sour, or lured by them through promises of marriage, the sources added.

Though the commissionerate police are yet to release their crime statistics for 2017, data procured from the state police headquarters revealed that 125 cases of rape had been registered in the city last year, as against 77 in the year before.

In most cases, police said, the crime had been committed by acquaintances, adding that the increased registration of cases did not indicate that actual incidents of rape had increased. “Most of the rape cases registered here involve girls accusing their former boyfriends or lovers of having committed the crime. Consensual physical intimacy post elopement were also common. When their relationship broke, girls or their family lodged rape complaints,” commissioner of police Y B Khurania said.

The commissionerate police have launched a series of measures to ensure the safety of women. From pink autorickshaws meant for female commuters to the ‘Mo Sathi’ app and self-defence programmes for college girls, police said they had taken several steps to curb crime against women.

Experts said cases of rape in which the attacker was known to the survivor were particularly hard to prevent. “In Odisha, rape seems to be a social crime,” said senior criminal lawyer Sidharth Das.

NGOs said parents could play a pivotal role in preventing the crime. “We often come across children of labourers being abused in their houses in the absence of their parents. The government should identify clusters where labourers reside and ensure better security there. Parents should ensure the safety of their children before leaving them alone,” said Anuradha Mohanty of Pecuc, a voluntary organization.

Recently, chief minister Naveen Patnaik and director-general of police R P Sharma praised the crime control mechanism of commissionerate police and asked the officers to act as role models for other police divisions. Registered murder cases in the city came down to 29 last year from 47 in 2016, cases of robbery dropped from 201 to 193 and those of burglary dipped to 222 last year, as compared to 250 in 2016.