Minor's rape exposes dark side of Ludhiana

LUDHIANA: The rape of a seven-year-old girl, a beggar, in a park in Kidwai Nagar has exposed the underbelly of the city. With cases of rape of minors crossing the 50 mark in the previous years and reaching around 30 cases in the first six months of the year, it shows how unsafe the city is for minors.
The seven-year-old girl was allegedly raped by Avinash Kumar, a factory worker from Janakpuri, in a room in a park in Kidwai Nagar on Wednesday evening.The accused was handed over to the police by Anil Kumar, a driver from Phagwara.
According to data with the NCRB and the police, cases of rape of minors have risen from 25 in 2010 to about 30 in the first six months of the year. Police said minors are lured on the pretext of marriage in most of these cases.
"Many victims are minors who are exploited by the accused in the name of marriage. Strict action is taken in such cases", said police commissioner Promod Ban. However, he refused to comment on the reason for increase in such cases in the city.
NCRB data for 2013 suggests that of the 102 rape cases in which the accused were not related to the victim, around 61 involved minors. Seven cases of rape were those wherein family members of the victim had outraged her modesty.
Psychologists attribute increase in rape cases of minors to multiple factors. Dr B P Mishra, a psychologist at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, said, "In majority of the cases, such crimes can be attributed to a disorder called sexual perversion. The accused may indulge in such a crime due to biological, psycho-social change (changed social system wherein a person is stuck between modern and traditional values). Frustration due to failure in life is another important reason as the culprits vent their anger on children.