Kerela: On Tuesday, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan stated that the government’s top priority is to establish special courts to hear cases involving crimes against women and children. He also stated that the administration has no plans to establish any new courts at this time. He was responding to a proposal made by legislator Xavier Chittilappilly in the state Assembly to establish additional courts in the southern state. “Given the current conditions, it’s a priority to establish special courts to hear cases involving crimes against women and children,” Vijayan added. The government would look into the establishment of other new courts once they are ready, CM added.
Since 2010, approximately 1,100 incidences of dowry-related harassment have been reported based on the state women’s commission data. As many as 32,000 incidents of crimes against women were reported in the state from 2018-2020. In 2020, there were 637 rape cases. Between 2018 and 2020, 12,948 cases of crimes against children were reported. There were 66 occurrences of child trafficking and 620 cases of minors being assaulted to offend their modesty. In the state, there were 2,163 Pocso instances reported, with a crime rate of 23, the highest among the medium and large-sized states.