Crimes against kids: Figure soars

TIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The city has witnessed a steady rise in the rate of crimes against children in the past few years. Among them, the current year, with more than a month left, tops the list with the cases registered reaching near the sum total of all the cases registered in the preceding four years.The police and Juvenile Justice Board say in unison that the figures do not speak the whole truth as a huge number of cases go unreported. However, Philomina Cedrie, a member of the Thiruvananthapuram Juvenile Justice Board, said that many cases that go unreported to the police come up before the Board. Secrecy is maintained in such cases. ‘’There have been instances in which the Board has registered cases suo motu after being convinced of child exploitation and rehabilitated the children without any publicity. The Board is planning to intensify the monitoring in schools to identify cases since parents do not often raise complaints fearing negative publicity,’’ she added.