Crime graph up in Kerala

However, the State Crime Records Bureau says that the instances of  rape, attempts to rape, harassment of wives by their husbands and their family and harassment of women in public places have all gone up.

Average figures of the first four months of this year show that the number of rape cases has gone up to three a day from two a day last year while the attempts to rape have also gone up to 10 this year from eight a day last year.

In these four months, there have been 1,738 cases of harassment of wives by husbands and their family members registered in police stations in the state. Till April, there have been 62 cases of abduction intended at extorting ransom and inducting into sex rackets while the annual figures of such crimes in the past four years have been in the range of 175 -166. The districts of Kozhikode, Malappuram and Thiruvananthapuram have been leading the crimes table.  

Wife loaned

Even as the sexual exploitation of an underage girl by over 100 men including her own father has come out, crimes against women gave been breaking new grounds. For instance, a fresh case involves the `loaning’ of a wife by her alcoholic husband to his friend for Rs 15,000.

Police have arrested Prasad, 29, of Kanhangad in Kasargod for harassing his wife and handing her over to his friend Manoj. Manoj is a sand contractor and is known to have links with the police to protect his illegal trade.

Though the woman petitioned the police four times against the physical harassment by Manoj, she says she only had to suffer further ignominy in the police station. Undeterred, she petitioned the Judicial First Class Magistrate at Hosdurg who ordered that a case be registered with Manoj as first accused and Prasad as second accused.

However, Manoj is yet to be arrested even after two months and has even dared to attack the woman’s house. The woman has now petitioned the State Human Rights Commission and Women’s Commission against the protection extended to him.