Voluntary organisation Child Rights and You (CRY) has expressed concern over the increasing crimes against children in the State.
The organisation stated that an analysis of data, which the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) recently released, shows 5,667 crimes against children were recorded and that there has been an increase of 58.3% over the past five years. This, it said, is 42.5% higher than the national rate of 15.8%.
“NCRB 2021 data highlights that a total of 1,836 children were victims of crimes, of which only one was a boy (6-12 years), clearly pointing out the vulnerability of girls being victims of crimes and criminal activities. The highest number of crimes were committed against girls in the 12-16 years age group with 918 cases. In the age group of 16-18 years, 741 crimes were recorded,” the NGO stated, while noting that 1,748 kidnapping cases were booked, and another 2,698 were covered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
CRY regional director (South) John Roberts said the Telangana government has launched several programmes to ensure that children’s livelihoods are protected, but also underscored the need to strengthen mechanisms to protect children.
“At the systemic level, there is a need to allocate adequate resources and budget for child protection and society so that implementation of schemes and child protection system can be strengthened. In terms of society, it is crucial for every citizen to realise their role and be vigilant, report cases of crimes against children,” he was quoted as saying.
