These days, cases of child abuse are increasing continuously in the country. Most of these cases are from Kerala, cases of child abuse are increasing rapidly in Kerala. This has been revealed in the report of the Child Rights Panel. Incidents of sexual abuse of children are increasing in Kerala, due to which they have become unsafe even in schools and homes.

According to a recent report released by the Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, 21 per cent of such cases were reported in the children's homes and four per cent in schools. This has prompted the state's child rights panel to raise awareness about child abuse among parents, teachers and police officials.

child abuse at home

According to the report, "Out of 4,663 cases analysed under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 988 (21 per cent) incidents took place in the homes of the children, 725 (15 per cent) in the homes of the accused and 935 (20 per cent) in public places." The report said that 173 cases of the crimes took place in schools, 139 in trains, 146 at miscellaneous locations and 166 in different areas.

Additionally, 60 cases were reported in hotels, 72 in friends' homes, 73 in religious institutions, 16 in hospitals, and eight percent in child care institutions.

A total of 4,663 POCSO cases have been registered in Kerala

However, information about the crime was not available in 791 (17 per cent) cases, the report said. In 2023, a total of 4663 POCSO cases were registered across Kerala. According to police data, Thiruvananthapuram district registered the highest number of cases, while Pathanamthitta district registered the least number of cases, the report said.

As per the data, the cases are on the rise as 3,322 cases were reported in 2021 and 4,583 in 2022. There were 3,616 cases in 2019 and 3030 in 2020.

Where and how did the incident happen?

The Commission found that, out of the 4,582 cases analysed during the specified period, involving 5,002 accused persons, the relationship between the victim children and the accused was distributed as follows: 873 were acquaintances of the children, 631 were neighbours, 439 were family members, 435 were relatives, 477 were friends, 692 were romantic partners, 210 were teachers, 305 were strangers, 896 were unspecified or unidentified, and 36 were van, bus or auto drivers.