Fourcases of rape or gang rape have been recorded daily in Bihar from January 2020till September, with police stations in 43 police districts of the stateregistering a total of 1,106 such cases, sources in the Police Department said.
Asper the data accessed by IANS, June witnessed a maximum of 152 cases, July 149cases and August 139 cases. As per the data, 88 cases were registered inJanuary, 105 in February, 129 in March, 82 in April, 120 in May, and 142 inSeptember.
Besidesrape and gang-rape incidents, 6 to 7 cases of eve-teasing and molestation orblackmailing are also registered in different police stations of Bihar.
Asenior police officer in Patna opined that rape or gang rape was also a socialissues, apart from criminal aspect. "Hence, we have directed the SPs ofall districts to initiate social campaigns, especially in rural areas, toeducate the youth about the crime," he said.
Accordingto officials, nearly 1,800 online complaints have been registered with thepolice control room. The officer said that 90 per cent of the complaints arenot converted into FIRs, which is the harsh reality in Bihar.
"Duringpolice investigations, victims hesitate to come forward to register the FIR andpursue the cases due to social issues. Also, known persons or relatives are theaccused in majority of such cases. Despite such situations, we do counsellingof each victim of eve-teasing, molestation, or rape. It's up to the victimswhether to pursue the case or not," said Pramila Kumari," ProjectManager, women helpline.
Amongthe rape and gang-rape cases reported in recent times was the one in which a15-year-old Dalit girl of Peero village in Bhojpur district was allegedlyviolated by our youths on December 15 after she went to a river bank.
Herfamily alleged that the accused not only brutalised her but their kin alsophysically assaulted them and made caste-related remarks. Moreover, localpolice delayed medical examination of the victim.
OnDecember 9, a 16-year-old girl was kidnapped and gang-raped in Banka district.On October 19, three men gang-raped a 19-year-old woman in Bihar's Kishanganjdistrict.
"Wehave put police on high alert in cases of crimes against women. We havedirected police officers to register FIRs as soon as possible and provide allpossible support and counselling to the victims, apart from cracking thecases," Banka SP Arvind Gupta.
"Incase of the gang rape of 16-year-old girl, we immediately constituted a team toconduct raids at different hideout of the accused and cracked the case within afew days," Gupta said.