DANG, Dec 18: On November 18, four-year-old Renu (name changed) of Ghorahi Sub-metropolitan City-12 in Dang was playing outside her home. Later, a 12-year-old boy accompanied her. Suddenly, he started touching the little girl inappropriately and ended up raping her.

The victim's family reported the incident to police as soon as they learnt the details. Following the complaint, police arrested the boy who is currently under custody.

The same day, another six-year-old girl of the same village was raped by a 13-year-old boy from the same neighborhood. The victim's parents lodged a complaint against the perpetrator with the police. Currently, the boy is under custody.

In April, three sisters from the same family were victimized sexually by an elderly man. Eleven-year-old Rama (name changed) of Ghorahi-11 was raped by an 82-year-old man who was her neighbor. After the incident, Rama stopped visiting the elderly man whom she called grandfather but did not share the incident with others. As she started ignoring the old man, he started abusing her six-year-old sister, Sita.

One day, Sita was playing outside her house when the old man called her and raped her as well. Even after raping both the sisters, the old man was still not ready to get rid of his ill habits. He even managed to rape their four-year-old sister. Unable to realize what happened with her, the youngest sister finally opened up about what the old man did to her. Later, two of her elder sisters also shared their incidents with the family members.

Police arrested the perpetrator following complaints filed by the parents. As mentioned in their complaint, the elderly man repeatedly raped the girls from April 21 to May 7. However, the district court released him after posting a bail of Rs 150,000.

As per the records maintained by various bodies, the number of rape cases has doubled in Dang in comparison to the past few years. The records also show that mostly minors are prone to rape. Altogether 62 girls have been raped in between December last year until now. However, 36 girls and women were raped in the previous year.

The records also show that mostly minors are prone to rape. According to the data provided by the Informal Service Center (INSEC), 50 out of 62 victims raped this year were minors.

According to the data provided by the Informal Service Center (INSEC), 50 out of 62 victims raped this year were minors.

"Every year, the number of rape cases is increasing at an alarming rate," said JN Sagar, a representative of INSEC. The shocking data shows that girls are neither safe at home nor outside. There are many cases where their own relatives and even family members have raped the victims.

Recently, a –year-old girl had gone to her maternal home where her maternal uncle's son raped her. After finding their little daughter unconscious, the parents reported the incident to police. The 13-year-old boy who happens to be her brother was arrested by the police. However, the family later settled the case stating it was a family issue.

Taking advantage of their innocence, the perpetrators these days rape minors. Especially girls between two to 16 years of age are prone to sexual violence, says Radha Paudel, focal person of Ekdwar Disaster Management Center.

 
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