BHUBANESWAR: Faced with daunting statistics of minor girls being sexually assaulted or raped in the state in alarming numbers, police have decided to launch a campaign from May 28 till June 12 to sensitise people on
women safety. A
special designed vehicle (Rath) will move across the state to make people aware about stringent laws to deal with offenders.
"The vehicles will have projectors and screens to play short films on women safety. We want to sensitise people to treat girls with dignity and affection. During the campaign, we will also sensitise people to fearlessly approach the police for action against offenders," director general of police
R P Sharma told TOI. Sharma said all SPs will be asked to conduct awareness camps in schools and their localities.
Police said almost all the offences relating to
child rape were committed by relatives or acquaintances of the rape survivors. DGP Sharma recently held a video conference with all district superintendents of police and the deputy commissioners of police of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack in which he strictly instructed them to accord priority to cases involving crime against women and children. “We keep telling our officers to show a sense of urgency towards rape cases. Conviction rate in such cases has increased to 38.5 per cent this year from 17 per cent in 2017,” Sharma said.
According to sources, no fewer than 40 child rape cases have been reported so far in April. The alleged rape of an eight-year-old girl in
Salipur area of Cuttack district recently sparked a massive public outcry.
Statistics of Odisha police revealed a rise in minor rape cases in 2017 compared to 2016. Out of 2,144 rape cases registered in 2016, at least 1,204 cases involved minor girls. In 2017, the total registration of rape complaints climbed to 2,221, which included 1,283 cases involving minor girls. “We found that in some cases, minor boys and girls had eloped. Later, police registered rape cases against boys following complaints lodged by the parents of minor girls,” an officer said.
Police said minor rape case numbers have dipped in the first four months this year. “At least 100 or 107 cases of minor rape are registered across the state every month. In April, 40 cases have been registered. In the first four months of 2018, around 315 such cases were reported,” another officer said.
