Aizawl: Two recent incidents of rape and
murder of minors have come as a wake-up call for Mizoram which
has the unenviable record of having the second highest
incidence of child abuse in the country.
A five-year-old girl was raped and murdered on October 18
in Thakthing locality here with a 35-year-old man from Salem
locality arrested for the crime.
While public anger against the incident was still
seething, another brutal rape and murder of a five-year-old
girl occurred at Muallungthu village near Aizawl on November
eight.
The accused, a 26 year-old Myanmarese national, was
lynched the next day.
Officials of the State Council for Child Welfare say
Mizoram ranked the second highest in child abuse, next only to
neighbouring Assam.
Aizawl Superintendent of Police Lalbiakthanga Khiangte
said that since 2006, 344 rape cases were registered of which
209 (60.76 per cent) victims were below the age of 15.
Of the victims, 35 were aged between one to five years,
70 between the age of five to ten and 104 between the age of
10 to 15.
"The rape figure, especially minor rape, will be much
higher as the majority of victims do not complain to the
police," he said.
He cited an example of a person who raped and sexually
molested ten minors in a village, but the parents of only two
victims complained to the police.
PTI
