ELURU: As many as 88 rape cases have been registered in West Godavari district so far this year — averaging more than 20 cases a month, as per the police records. And what is more alarming is the involvement of minors in four cases — where the victims and the accused were minors. And in perhaps the most heinous crime of all, four boys gangraped a pregnant woman recently at Ramachandrapuram village of Pedapadu mandal.
The police have registered cases against four minor rapists under the Nirbhaya Act.
In some villages, the elders are settling the rape cases due to various reasons and hence the same are not reported to the police.
Meanwhile, All India Democratic Women Association district committee secretary B Kalyani has expressed serious concern over the increasing number of rape cases in the district, particularly the involvement of minor boys.