Cases registered under various sections of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act are declining considerably in Wayanad, the district with the largest tribal population in the State.
A report presented by the special mobile squad Deputy Police Superintendent P. K. Kuberan Namboothiri at a meeting of senior officials of various departments here on Wednesday revealed that cases registered under the category had declined considerably in 2019 comparing with the past three years.
While 102 cases were registered under various sections of the Act in 2016, only 54 cases, including 37 cases relating to STs and 17 cases relating to SCs, were registered under the Act till October 31 this year, Mr. Namboothiri said. Of these, charge sheets were filed in courts in 31 cases and four cases were found fake during the investigation, he said.
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While 60 cases were registered in 2017, 77 were registered in 2018, he said.
Awareness programmes organised by the police department among the public regarding the Act helped in reducing the number of cases, he claimed. District Collector A.R. Ajayakumar directed the special public prosecutor to provide legal advice to victims belonging to the category in a time-bound manner to ensure justice to the marginalised section of society.
Senior officials of various departments attended the meeting.
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