Nashik: With over 350 rape cases registered in the district in the past three years, most survivors were targeted either by their relatives or acquaintances.The city saw a marginal rise in registration of rape cases last year, with 36 such cases registered in 2017. The 2016 and 2015 figures were the same at 30 each.Rural police, however, saw a considerable drop in these cases with 69 registered in 2017 as against 89 in 2016 and 103 in 2015. Sanjay Darade, superintendent of police (Nashik rural), said, “The number of rape cases registered in a particular year is not an indicator that such crimes are increasing or decreasing in a particular area. For Nashik rural, we have been registering every case that comes to the police. Most of the time, the common thread in such cases is that the victim is acquainted with the suspect.”ACP Ashok Nakhate of the city police crime branch said, “It is rare that a girl or a woman is sexually abused by a stranger, according to police records of the city in the past few years. In most cases registered with the police, the suspect has to be acquainted with the police, so all such offences are detected.”He added that rape cases are also registered by women, who have an affair with some person who later refused to marry her. “Apart from this, minor girls who elope with their boyfriends and are traced later reveal that they had physical relation with the suspect. Such persons are also booked for rape,” added Nakhate.About the rise in rape cases in 2017 as against 2016, a police officer said more such crimes are getting registered. “The police do not refuse register a case. This is because of the improved police-public communication and also the fact that the police are not giving the names of the victims to the media,” he said.He added that people were able to view the first information reports (FIR) on the police website within 48 hours after the offence was lodged. However, cases of sexual offences were not published on the website so that the survivor’s identity is not revealed. Following this, more rape survivors were approaching the police to lodge complaints.The police said recently, there were a good number of cases, where minor girls were eloping with their boyfriends. If the girls were found sexually abused, rape cases against the persons concerned were registered suo moto.

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