NEW DELHI – India is among top nations of the world in terms of Child rapesand sex abuse. Crime against children in India has increased by a sharp 11per cent between 2015 and 2016 , according to the latest data released bythe National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB). Going by absolute numbers, it’s anincrease of 12,786 reported crimes against children across the country. Thetotal number of crimes against children reported in 2016 was 106958, while94172 crimes were recorded in 2015. This, however, does not come as asurprise, as a cumulative analysis done by an NGO, ‘CRY – Child Rights andYou’, shows a steady upward trend with a significant increase of more than500 per cent over a period of the past one decade (1,06,958 in 2016 over18,967 in 2006).
Further retrospective comparison within the mentioned timeframe points at asharper rate of increase in the latter quadrennium (2012 to 2016) than thatrecorded in the former lustrum (2006 to 2011). Quoting these NCRB data,Komal Ganotra, Director Policy and Advocacy at CRY told PTI, “While thissteep rise in numbers might have been the result of increased awarenessamong the people at large and the law enforcing agencies in recordingcrimes, it also indicates that children have become increasingly exposed tothe risk of becoming victims in recent years.”
Looking at the concentration of reported incidents across the states, morethan 50 per cent of crimes against children have been recorded in just fivestates — Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and WestBengal. While Uttar Pradesh tops the list with 15 per cent of recordedcrimes against children, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh closely follow with14 per cent and 13 per cent respectively. Going by the nature of crimes andcategories as registered with the police, kidnapping and abduction clearlytops the lists with almost half of the total crimes (48.9 per cent, numberof crimes 52,253) as recorded in 2016.
The next biggest category of crime against children in terms of number isrape, amounting to more than 18 per cent of all crimes against children,while all crimes under POCSO Act constitutes around 33 per cent of thetotal crimes. Crimes under POCSO Act include primarily rape, sexual assaultagainst children, sexual harassment and child pornography amongstothers. Further analysis suggests that Uttar Pradesh recorded maximumnumber of crimes under the categories of ‘kidnapping and abduction’ and‘POCSO Act’, while Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh stand in the second andthird slot respectively in both these categories.
A new chapter on ‘Missing Persons and Children’ which has been included inthis year’s NCRB release in compliance with the Supreme Court directives,shows that a total of 1,11,569 children (41,175 boys and 70,394 girls) werereported to have been missing. The maximum cases were reported from WestBengal (15.1 per cent) during 2016. A total of 55,944 children were tracedat the end of the year 2016 in the country. Ganotra said, “Going by thecurrent trend reflected in the Government data, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtraand Madhya Pradesh along with some other states continue to show worryingtrends in the magnitude of crime against children.
“Also, this is a grim reminder of the fact that we, as a country, do nothave proper prevention mechanisms in place to address the issue of childprotection, nor are we keen on building more empathetic understanding andintervention plans adequately backed up by sustained investment on childsecurity,” she said. Elaborating on the way forward on tackling increasingcrimes against children, Komal added, “Child protection in our countrycannot be ensured with just having legislations and numerous guidelines.”
“We as a country need to commit in cultivating a culture of zero toleranceto violence against children. We should be vigilant and cognizant of thefact that children are at risk with gaps in infrastructure, processes andsystems,” she said. Komal also urged the governments and all law enforcingagencies to equip themselves in recognising these risks and put robustsystems and processes to assess and eliminate the same without compromisingwith them.