KATHMANDU, JANUARY 1

Nepal Police record shows that 9,240 cases of crime against women were recorded with the police in the past five months across the country.

Among the various nature of crimes, 7,329 complaints registered with the police were related to domestic violence.

The heinous crime of rape was rampant, wherein a total number of 993 girls and women above 18 and 104 young girls were raped. In average, almost three women were raped every day and one girl was raped in almost every three days across the country in the past five months, as per data.

Similarly, a total of 331 rape attempt complaints were filed with the police during this period.

Another largely prevalent crime against women was polygamy.

As many as 351 cases of polygamy were registered with the police in the past five months. Similarly, 19 cases of child marriage, 76 cases of women trafficking, 12 cases of unnatural sex and 25 cases of witchcraft violence were registered with the police.

Despite such a high number of crimes against women, Nepal Police record shows that these crimes are declining.

A comparative research of similar crimes during the same period last year shows that majority of these crimes have dropped significantly.

For instance, a total of 1,096 women were rape victims from mid-July to mid-December in 2020.

A comparative study of two data during the similar period of the year shows that the incidents of rape have decreased by almost 10 per cent this year compared to last year.

Similarly, witchcraft violence declined by 32 per cent in the first five months of 2020.

As many as 37 cases of witchcraft violence were recorded during that period.

Similar data on cases of child molestation and child rape decreased by over 32 per cent in the first five months of the current fiscal. In the first five months of the last fiscal, 37 cases of child rape and molestation were recorded.

Crimes against women registered to the police are said to be just the tip of an iceberg.

Quite often, the victims or their family members don't come forward to report such crimes to police.

Mostly, perpetrators of domestic violence go unpunished in the country as majority of women choose to keep silent rather than report such incidents to the police.

A version of this article appears in the print on January 2, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.