On an average, more than five rapes take place every day in Kerala, a State said to be standing well ahead of most others as far as indicators of social development are concerned, suggesting how several ambitious programmes for ensuring protection of women and children from atrocities have filed in achieving their goals.
A total of 1,531 cases were reported in Kerala in the first nine months of the current year, as per the statistics provided by the State Crime Records Bureau. The more shocking aspect of these brutal atrocities is that the number of children becoming rape victims is more than half of the women victims, pointing at a very disturbing and dangerous trend in the society.
Of the 1,531 rape cases registered in the State till September this year, 550 were of girls under 17 years of age. The total number of rapes reported in the State in 2013 was 1,858, of which 637 cases related to child rapes while 1,019 women and 455 girls were subjected to sexual assault in 2012.
"What we see here is a trend which does not show any positive change over the years despite increased vigil by law-enforcing agencies and concerned bodies like the State Commission for Women," said a former top police official. "It also shows that the several court verdicts awarding severe punishment to rapists are perhaps failing to serve as deterrents," he said.
The statistics provided by the Kerala Police suggest that women are not safe even in places where they are supposed to be under loving care - homes. Among the various categories of atrocities committed against women till September are acts of cruelty by husbands and others in the family: Of the total 10,690 cases registered, 3,705 belonged to this category.
The trend of crimes against women maintaining a plateau level is observable in this case also. The number of such atrocities registered in 2013 was 4,820 while this was 5,216 and 5,377 in 2012 and 2011 respectively. The plateau effect is also seen in the total numbers of atrocities against women in each of the past four years.
The State Capital, Thiruvananthapuram, led in the incidents of rape this year: 143. In the second place was Kollam district where 121 cases of rape were reported. The Ernakulam district came third with a number of 93 registered rape cases while Thrissur, known as the cultural capital of the State, claimed fourth place with 90 reported rape cases.
"When we look at the social indicators, this should not be happening in a place like Kerala. What we must admit here is that the pointers of development are merely external and development has failed to positively transform the mental well-being of individuals. There could be several reasons for it," said BS Panicker, journalist-psychologist.
According to Panicker, the main factor behind the rise in incidents of child rapes in Kerala is what he calls the "sexual fear factor" in the psyche of the Malayalee rapist. "These rapists need not be habitual criminals. They simply can't express themselves where such self-expressions are needed. They are a scared lot. So they search for victims who won't question them," he says.
However, those working for the rights of women and children are of the opinion that the Government itself is in the dock here. Even the Nirbhaya scheme, launched in 2012 for ensuring protection of women and children, has not been able to guarantee a sense of security to them, they complain.