MYSURU: In January 2019, a 48-year-old man raped his neighbour at knifepoint when she was alone at her house in Papareddypalya in Bengaluru. In April, a minor girl was raped by her own father in Dakshina Kannada district. Hundreds of such horrifying cases are booked by women where the perpetrator is known to her.
A disturbing statistics on rape cases reported in the state in 2019 revealed that more than 71% of rape cases that were booked in Karnataka were against people known to the victim. According to data from the police which is available with The New Indian Express, of the total 494 rape cases reported in 2019 in the state, 280 were committed by people known to the victim. What is more disturbing is that excluding 280, 30 were committed by victims relatives, 39 by neighbours and two by parents totalling it to 351 cases. This proves that rape by a stranger is not only the real problem but a majority of rapes are committed by people known to the victim; it may be a friend, colleague, neighbour, relative and even parents!
The data further revealed that in 2018, 491 rape cases were registered in the state, of which 230 were by known people, 51 were by neighbours, 42 were by relatives. In 2017, 652 rape cases were registered, of which 281 were by a known person, 48 were by neighbours, 46 were by relatives and two were by parents.
When asked about this, Manjula Manasa, former chairperson of Karnataka State Women’s commission, said a majority of sexual offences against women by known people is not a new thing but a known fact, which was not getting reported over the years.
“Women go through multiple threats while reporting such cases. This is mainly due to the deep-rooted attitudes which view women as inferior to men. Due to this, many were not coming and reporting such cases. However, now due to awareness, more victims are coming forward and reporting it and naming the perpetrator,” she said. She, however, said there are still many cases that go unreported as the victims remain reluctant to report such cases due to fear.