A child was molested or abused at home every three days during the lockdown, the Child Welfare Committee in Ranchi has concluded after receiving an alarming number of complaints in the three months beginning March.

As many as 26 cases under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) were heard by the CWC here from March 22 to June 19. The figures, committee members fear, could be much higher as only a small fraction of the victims muster the courage to report such incidents and seek help, committee members have told The Telegraph Online.

“We can say that every third day a child was molested in Ranchi during the lockdown. But going by my personal experience, I would say that such incidents occur more often than once in three days,” said CWC member Tanushree Sarkar.

She explained that in all the 26 cases, the perpetrators were relatives. “All the 26 victims are in the age bracket of 10 years to 15 years. Their perpetrators are mostly uncles, cousins, stepfathers, and even biological fathers in some cases,” said Tanushree Sarkar, a member of CWC in Ranchi.

A nationwide lockdown was imposed from March 25 to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Schools were closed with several institutions beginning online classes later.

While the lockdown came as an early summer vacation for many teenagers, it escalated the problems of children who were dealing with sexual predators living under the same roof, CWC members stated.

“The figures are quite shocking. Lockdown became an opportunity for sexual predators to target children in their own family,” said Sarkar. “There are so many victims who do not seek help and suffer in silence. We request all guardians to listen to their children and take their complaints seriously,” she added.

CWC is a judicial body under Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015. As per the Act, the committee has the authority to dispose of cases concerning the protection, treatment, development and rehabilitation of children in need, as well as to provide for their basic needs and protection

Almost all the victims in Ranchi during the lockdown period were enrolled in schools, said Pratima Tiwari, an ex-CWC member, whose tenure in the committee ended on June 19. “Most of the victims belong to middle class and lower middle class families of urban Ranchi,” she said.

The Telegraph Online is withholding the names and localities of the victims in accordance with a Supreme Court directive that prohibits the media from disclosing the identity of a child subjected to molestation or even other details about the victim that may eventually lead to his/her identification.

“In some of the cases reported to us, the children were locked with their relatives under one roof during the lockdown and had nowhere to go,” said Sarkar.

Citing an example, Sarkar said that a teenager was under the custody of CWC here since March after her father allegedly tried to molest her. “We don't know where to send her. Where would a child go if she is abused in her own house?” she asked.

The latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) figures state that Jharkhand saw the highest increase in crimes against children at 73.9 per cent in between 2016 and 2017.