Hyderabad: Fewer rapes but sexual harassment on the rise
Of the 4,947 cases dealt with in 2019 by the police this year, 2,092 cases ended in conviction while 25 persons were sentenced to life imprisonment.
Hyderabad: Hyderabad has witnessed a significant increase in cases of the sexual harassment of women and dowry deaths in this year. However, there is a slight decrease in rape and harassment cases compared to last year.
Mr Anjani Kumar, Hyderabad police commissioner, said SHE teams and Bharosa centres had brought a drastic change in the mindset of women victims. Compared to earlier, they are now approaching police with confidence to seek justice. Mr Kumar added, “We have taken several initiatives for the safety of women, which is our top priority. Integration of Dial 100 with the patrol staff has brought down the response time to around eight minutes.”
In this year, 150 rapes were reported of which 11 were booked for rape under the promise to marry, 19 cases of rape of majors under the pretext of love and 78 rapes of minors, according to Mr Kumar.
In most of the sexual assault cases, offenders were people known to the victim, including six cases where father was accused, 18 cases where relatives were accused and 33 cases neighbours were accused.
Of the 4,947 cases dealt with in 2019 by the police this year, 2,092 cases ended in conviction while 25 persons were sentenced to life imprisonment.
One of the possible reasons for the low reportage of rape cases could be reluctance among the victims to speak against the abusers when they are members of the family.
Ms Jaya Vindhyala, a women’s rights activist, said, “The mindset of the people and the law enforcement officials should be changed. Women are further marginalised because of religion and caste. First, people should change their mindset; they should respect women's individuality. Law enforcement officials should strictly implement the law without any prejudice.”