DHUBRI, March 8 - Incidents of crime against women (CAW) are now witnessing a steep rise in Dhubri district with more than hundred such cases being registered recently in different police stations of the district.
In 2017, in an average, more than 143 cases relating to CAW were registered in eight police stations of the district, which is higher than the monthly average of 138 cases in 2016.
As per police records, a total of 1,724 cases like murder, rape, kidnapping, abduction, dowry death, dowry suicide, molestation, cruelty by husband, immoral trafficking of women, etc., were registered in 2017, while in 2016, a total of 1,657 cases were registered.
Moreover, till January this year, 112 such cases have already been registered by the police.
Among the types of cases, women in the district mostly face cruelty by their husbands. In 2017, almost 1,034 cases related to such offences were registered in different police stations of the district. Moreover, 363 cases of molestation, 192 cases of kidnapping and abduction and 102 cases of rape were recorded by the police.
Many cases were registered in the district under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act), 2012, where girl children were the main victim. However, police said many such cases also go unreported in the district.
If sources are to be believed, the rate of child marriage is also very high in the district.
Talking to this correspondent, Sultana Salima Ahmed, author and headmistress of Dhubri Girls ME Academy, said the main reason for such increase in cases of crimes against women is illiteracy and poverty.
�Majority of girl children of the families with lower income hardly go to schools. They get married at a very early stage and are treated as child producing machines,� said Ahmed, adding, �under such circumstances, how can we expect them to know their own rights?�
Reacting on the issue, assistant professor of PB College and women rights activist, Parvin Sultana, said, �While the condition of women has improved to an extent, empowerment in true sense will need much more work.�
�In case of land related conflicts, families try to frame each other in sexual harassment and molestation cases. The victims are again women who are used as pawns,� added Parvin.
