22 anti-women crimes a day in Kerala

On the International Day for Women, Monday, the Kerala Assembly was told that on an average, 22 crimes against women, including sexual abuse, were being committed against the females of the human species a day in God’s Own Country. One of the stunning aspects of this revelation was that 398 women above the age of 65 and 158 children below the age of ten had been subjected to atrocities in the past 46 months.

Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, also a junior member of the CPI(M) Politburo, told the Assembly that as many as 29,646 incidents of atrocities against women, including rape and sexual abuse, had occurred in Kerala since the LDF led by his party took over the rule on May 18, 2006. As many as 29,555 cases had been registered in this regard and culprits had been caught in 25,423 cases, he claimed.

The number of girls between 11 and 15 years of age, against whom crimes had been committed, was put at 652 while 13,897 women between 16 and 29 had been subjected to atrocities during the period, the Minister said. As many as 14,545 crimes had been committed against women between 30 and 65 years of age during the tenure of the LDF, he added.

At the same time, the Economic Review report of the State Planning Board, published last week, showed a substantial fall in the number of suicides in Kerala. According to the report, the total number of suicides had come down to a eight-year low in 2008. The number of suicides recorded in 2008 was 8,569 while this was 9,810 in 2002.

However, the report indicated that suicides caused by failed love affairs were on steady rise in the State, known for the highest number of suicides in the country. A total of 117 jilted lovers had taken their lives in 2008, according to the report. The number of those who committed suicide due to love-born despair in 2006 was 70 while this climbed to 81 in 2007. Kerala’s overall suicide rate was 26.30 while the national average was 10.8.

Responses