Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday said that the government's priority is to open special courts to try cases related to crimes against women and children. He also said that the government has no plan as of now to set up any other new court.
He was replying to a submission in the state Assembly raised by legislator Xavier Chittilappilly on the setting up of new courts in the southern state. The Wadakkanchery sub-court has been included as third in the priority list for setting up new courts, he added.
"The government has taken no decision at present on the setting up of new courts. Considering the present circumstances, priority is given to start special courts to try cases related to crimes against women and children," Vijayan said.
Once they are ready, the government would look into the setting up of other news courts, the Chief Minister added.
According to data by the state women’s commission, nearly 1,100 cases of dowry-related harassment have come to its attention since 2010 with Thiruvananthapuram accounting for nearly 50% of the cases.
Crime against women and kids
As many as 32,000 cases were registered for crimes against women in the state from 2018 to 2020, as per a TNIE report.
There were 637 cases of rape in 2020. Of these, 248 cases were rape other than custodial, while 147 were repeated rape of women.
One case of rape and murder, six cases of dowry deaths and 34 cases of abetment to suicide were registered in the state in 2020.
From 2018 to 2020, as many as 12,948 cases were registered for crimes against children.
There were 66 cases of trafficking of children and 620 cases of assaulting children with the intent to outrage their modesty.
There were 2,163 Pocso cases registered in the state with a crime rate of 23, which is the highest among the medium and large-sized states.
