Crimes against children up by 10-20% in Karnataka: Government

207 Pocso cases have already been registered in two months in 2023

The crimes against children in Karnataka have risen between 10 per cent and 20 per cent in the past two years, the state government revealed on Monday. Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra, in a reply to a question by Govindaraju in the legislative council, said the rise in numbers is due to an increase in awareness and reporting of such crimes, The Times of India reported.

He said the statistics include the cases under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences(Pocso).

Jnanendra added that the cases under Pocso have been on a rise. In 2018, the number of Pocso cases stood at 2,063 and grew to 3097 in 2022.

However, in 2023, 207 Pocso cases have already been registered in two months.

According to the minister, the data shows a marginal drop in the number of missing girl children but the number of missing boys is witnessing a considerable rise.

In the year 2021, the data shows 1,644 girls went missing and in 2022 there was a slight drop in the number as it stood at 1,443.

Meanwhile, the data showed the number of missing boys was at 488 in 2021 and went up to 742 in 2022.

The maximum number of such incidents were reported in Bengaluru in both years.

The minister also added that the success rate of tracing these children is 94 per cent for girls and 96 per cent for boys.