Unlike the city, Thiruvananthapuram rural limit has the dubious distinction of registering more such cases.1,240 crimes against women have been reported in rural limits. In 2017, rural police registered 210 rape cases.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:Yet another International Women’s Day is here. Every year, the government and various NGOs celebrate the occasion for freedom, liberation and equal rights for women. However, despite various campaigns, the women in the district are still becoming the victims of cruelties, harassment and physical and mental abuse by men. Even as the district police - both Thiruvananthapuram city and rural- have been taking action against such crimes based on the complaints made by the victims, the data show there has been no dip in such incidents. As per the statistics available with the police, crime against women is increasing year after year. Unlike the city, Thiruvananthapuram rural limit has the dubious distinction of registering more such cases.
Last year, a whopping 1,240 crimes against women have been reported in rural limits while 533 cases reported in the city limits.Though the police equate the registration of cases as a positive sign praising the courage of women in coming forward with complaints, the law enforcers or the society it seems have failed to prevent such crimes. In 2017, the rural police registered 210 rape cases while numbers stood at 77 in the city limits. In the case of molestation cases, rural police registered 537 cases while 235 cases were filed in the city. According to police data, the rural limits saw four dowry deaths in 2017 alone. Similarly, domestic violence against women is also high in rural police limits. As many as 207 cases have been reported last year where 78 cases were reported in city limits.
In 2016, the total number of rape cases registered in rural police limits was 138. The city police had registered only 66 cases. As many as 540 molestation cases were reported in rural limits while 250 cases were reported within city limits. Three dowry deaths were reported in rural limits while one death was reported in city limits.
In 2015, rural police registered 129 rape cases while 38 rape cases reported within city limits. According to a special branch officer of the city police, the crime against women in city limits has been going down after various women safety initiatives including Pink police and some mobile applications were launched.
“Our woman helpline numbers are getting 10-15 calls on a daily basis. Most of the calls are related to domestic violence. Even the walk-in complaints at woman police stations are more related to cruelty meted out by the husbands. But we have managed to bring down such cases in the city limits through various methods,” said a special branch officer of city police.
‘Pink police will be extended to Rural police limits’
Thiruvananthapuram range IG Manoj Abraham told T’Puram Express successful woman safety initiatives including pink policing will be extended to rural limits in the coming financial year. He said preliminary talks are on to extend the project to rural areas. At present, pink policing is active only within the city limits. Pink police is a new initiative of the state police in ensuring the safety of women pedestrians and commuters. The vehicles equipped with continuous tracking devices are being allotted to woman police officers patrol the roads between 8 am to 8 pm. However, Abraham said most of the cases reported in rural areas are a fall-out of ‘broken’ relationships.
“We can’t call it a traditional rape or molestation. In most of the cases, the victims and the accused are known to each other. But, when the relationship breaks, the victims approach the police with a rape complaint against the accused. But there are some exceptions and we will bring more initiatives in rural limits soon,” he said.
Helpline number
Women Helpline: 1091
Vanitha Helpline Number of Kerala Police 9995399953
Police Control Room (For All Districts) 100
Alert Control 1090
Helpline Numbers of Kerala Police 0471-3243000 0471-3244000 0471-3245000