'Akka Force' will be introduced across K'taka to prevent rape, child marriages: Laxmi Hebbalkar

Bengaluru, Aug 13 (IANS) Karnataka Women and Child Welfare Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar on Wednesday said that 'Akka Force' will be deployed across the state to address issues concerning women, particularly to prevent rape, child pregnancies, and child marriages.

Akka translates to elder sister in the Kannada language.

Hebbalkar announced this in the Legislative Assembly while responding to a question from JD(S) floor leader, MLA C.B. Suresh Babu, regarding the rising number of child pregnancies, child marriages, and rapes in the state.

"The 'Akka Force' is functioning well in Bidar district and will now be introduced across the state. It will be launched on an experimental basis from August 15 in Mysuru, Mangaluru, and Belagavi districts through the department, and later extended statewide," Hebbalkar said.

She added, "The 'Akka Force' will comprise women police personnel and senior NCC cadets. They will be provided with vehicles and will visit colleges and other public spaces to minimise incidents such as child marriages and rapes. This is a matter of serious concern for us."

Hebbalkar further said, "After assuming office, I formed a committee with members from ten different departments to prevent child marriages. The committee includes representatives from RDPR, Health, Education, Home, Social Welfare, Revenue, SC/ST Welfare, and other departments. They are responsible for preventing child marriages from the gram panchayat level to the district headquarters."

She said, "We have created the '1098' helpline, which is operational 24 hours."

Earlier, JD(S) MLA and floor leader C.B. Suresh Babu said, according to statistics for 2023-24, at least 405 girls below 18 years were victims of child marriage. In 2023-24, 709 child marriages took place in the state. In 2024-25, 685 girls have become victims. In the past 10 months, 26,463 child pregnancies have been reported in the state. This is a serious concern.”

Responding to this, Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar said, "I appreciate the concern. Since our government came to power, many amendments have been made to prevent child pregnancies and child marriages. We tabled the bill concerning the prevention of child marriages in the Assembly on Tuesday."

"The Child Welfare Committee (CWC) operates in all districts and maintains separate statistics. If 26,463 child pregnancies were reported in the state in 10 months, it is indeed a serious concern. Hailing from Belagavi, I can say that the statistics regarding Belagavi district are inaccurate," she said.

She added that the state government is actively preventing love marriages among minors and child marriages, which still occur in some communities, and social media regulation is also being enforced.

--IANS

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