As many as 500 unnatural deaths reported at Belthangady taluk in Dakshina Kannada district over the last five years need to be probed by a special squad, said V.S. Ugrappa, head of the expert committee on Prevention of Sexual Violence against Women and Children.
Mr. Ugrappa told presspersons here on Monday that he would recommend forming a special squad to trace the reason for increase in unnatural deaths in the taluk.
“There was no satisfactory explanation from the district administration. The committee found the situation alarming and decided to recommend to the government to constitute a special squad to study the reason,” he said.
When the statistics were presented at the review meeting in Mangaluru on Saturday, Deputy Commissioner A.B. Ibrahim and Superintend of Police Sharanappa acknowledged the increase in unnatural deaths. “According to officials, an average 100 unnatural deaths have been reported every year. The figure points to the fact that youth, especially girls, form a major chunk,” he said.
Mr. Ugrappa also said that the district administration had not taken cognisance of the drastic fall in female sex ratio in a district and increase in number of pre-natal sex determination centres. “According to official figures, there are over 159 scanning centres in the district,” he said. Similarly, conviction rate in cases pertaining to dowry harassment, atrocities on women and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act is very low, he said. Expressing regret over not releasing compensation for rape victims in the district, Mr. Ugrappa said the government had disbursed over Rs. 10 lakh in the last 10 years, though 235 cases had been reported. “The district administration should have disbursed a minimum Rs. 10 crore compensation,” he said.
An average 100 unnatural deaths have been reported every year, and figure points to the fact that youth, especially girls, form a major chunk
V.S. Ugrappa,Head of the expert committee on Prevention of Sexual Violence against Women and Children
