Around 10 days ago, a 57-year-old doctor working at the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant hospital allegedly misbehaved with a 17-year-old intermediate student who had come for a medical check-up. Police registered a case after the girl’s parents called the 100 helpline and lodged a complaint.
The doctor was subsequently interrogated by a team of three police officials after which he was arrested and later sent to remand.
On April 29, a 33-year-old man was arrested for allegedly raping a 17-year-old girl in PM Palem area. The rural areas of the district also reported similar crimes, including the case of a six-year-old who was allegedly raped by a 20-year-old drug addict.
Crimes against women, especially minors, are on the rise and to curb such incidents, the City Police decided to open sheets against such offenders who are categorised as paedophiles. The initiative was taken by Commissioner of Police Ch. Srikanth.
Speaking to The Hindu, he said, “Opening of sheets has become essential as most of them are serial offenders and we need to keep a tab on these people.”
The sheets that will be opened will be on the lines of ‘Rowdy Sheets’, wherein the entire details of the offenders will be kept on record at the nearest police stations, as well as in the City Crime Record Bureau (CCRB).
According to the Commissioner, most of the cases against minors go unrecorded due to multiple factors, such as taboo and ‘family honour’. “But it is necessary that parents come forward and report the crime. We will carry on our investigation without disclosing the details of the victim or the family and this is how we can build up our database, which will help in solving future crimes,” said Mr. Srikanth.
Normally, it is seen that people who commit sexual offences against minors tend to become serial offenders, as minors either do not understand what has happened to them or the incidents are not reported. This emboldens the offenders who tend to prey on their victims again and repeat the offence, Mr. Srikanth said.
Acquiescing with the Police Commissioner, president of Indian Psychiatric Society Prof. N.N. Raju said that paedophilia is a mental disorder and people who have this disorder generally tend to get addicted to it. Opening a sheet and keeping tabs on them would ensure better safety for girls, he said.
In Andhra Pradesh, of the 1,090-odd rapes, as per the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) statistics of 2020, nearly 600 were perpetrated on minors.
In most cases, minors silently suffer the ordeal and this encourages the sexual predators to prey upon one victim after another. And in the majority of cases, it is seen that family members, neighbours and those from the family’s social circles are involved, Mr. Srikanth said.
