On the pretext of striking a conversation with a 20-year-old newly -married woman, two men offered her tea laced with sedatives and abducted her from the Bangalore City Railway Station last year. She landed up in a brothel in Mumbai, but was eventually rescued.
If one goes to check the State Crime Records Bureau data, it becomes evident that the number of abduction cases in the state has only doubled from 2006.
In Karnataka, the cases of kidnapping and abduction of women and girls has steadily increased from 326 in 2006 to 715 last year.
Similar is the case with molestation which has increased from 1,683 in 2006 to 2,608 last year. Of this, districts of Bangalore, Mysore, Tumkur, Raichur and Belgaum constitute 50 per cent of the cases.
While criminal intent is one of the reason for the rise in number, false complaints and increased awareness are the other contributing factors, says Donna Fernandes, one of the founding members of Vimochana, a women’s rights organisation.
“Men are unable to accept the surge of women’s success. Women are becoming more assertiveness in exercising their rights. Society needs to acknowledge the change, and respect it,” Fernandes said.
“Earlier what was happening (molestation) in a closed environment is how happening in public sphere,” she added.
Fernandes also shared instances wherein, false complaints were filed by the parents of eloped girls who got married against their elders’ wish. Such cases also exist, so the data needs to be looked in detail to analyse,” she said.
A M Prasad, Additional Director General of Police (Crime), Bangalore, had expressed similar views earlier. “The cases are increasing because of growing awareness among people to register cases.”
