Bhubaneswar: Police said the impact of the 15-day-long statewide campaign against sexual abuse to children, launched in collaboration with Unicef, could only be assessed after getting reports of such crimes from concerned districts by the end of June.
The campaign - Paree Pain Katha Tiye (a word for little angel) - was launched in the wake of frequent child rape cases on May 28 and concluded on Tuesday in the city.
The police said the 15 specially designed vehicles covered a distance of 40,487km and interacted with more than 11 lakh people in 1,300 locations. "The online campaign through the Odisha police's Facebook and Twitter handles reached more than 13.16 lakh people across the state and outside. The official campaign hashtag #SaveParee trended nationally for three hours on Twitter on the day of the launch and reached over one crore people across the country and beyond," said a cop.
The vehicles, equipped with LED screens and projectors, played short films on women's safety and also made aware people on the stringent laws to deal with minor sexual abuse. Besides, street plays were also performed by artistes of the District Council of Culture, along with community interaction.
Statistics have revealed a rise in child rape cases in 2017 compared to 2016. Out of 2,144 rape cases registered in 2016, at least 1,204 cases involved minor girls, while the total registration of rape complaints climbed to 2,221 in 2017, which included 1,283 cases involving minor girls.
The alleged rape and strangulation of a six-year-old girl at Salipur in Cuttack district in April had sparked a public outcry in the state.
Director-general of police R.P. Sharma, however, stressed on speedy disposal of such cases. "All the police stations have been asked to be investigated meticulously with gathering of evidence. Besides, concerned police have also been asked to submit the charge sheet at the earliest possible, so that trial of such cases can begin. I hope that we should be able to prosecute these cases relatively in a lesser timeframe and also see that the conviction rate go up," said Sharma.
