As many as 86 cases of rape and rape attempts have been reported in the last eight months in Sunsari district, according to the data maintained by the District Police Office (DPO), Sunsari. In recent times, rape cases are on the rise, the data show.

As many as 110 incidents of rape were recorded last year, while in the first eight months of the current fiscal year, 86 incidents of rape have been reported, DPO informed. From mid-July to mid-March of the running fiscal year, 68 cases of rape and 18 cases of attempts to rape were reported, the report stated.

Binu Maya Basnet, an official at the Women, Children and Senior Citizen’s division of DPO, said the number of victims filing complaints against rape and attempted rape has been increasing in recent years.“This is because the police have started investigating and taking action against the guilty,” said Basent.

Among the rape victims, eight victims were aged below 10 years, 16 of them aged between 10 and 14 years, 10 aged between 14 and 16 years of age and 10 of them were aged between 16-18 years. Similarly, 24 rape victims were aged above 18 years, the report stated. In the same period, one case of human trafficking was reported.

According to the District Police Office, Sunsari, up to 98 per cent of the perpetrators have been arrested and brought to book. As per the report, six perpetrators of rape were aged below 14 years, two were aged between 14 and 16 years, one between 16-28 years of age and 76 of them were aged above 18 years.