By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu Feb. 8: A situation analysis report of four months released by the National Child Rights Council (NCRC) has painted a bleak picture of children in Nepal.
A larger number of children were subjected to rape and sexual harassment.
As many as 72 children became victims of rape and molestation within the period, the report said.
According to the NCRC under the Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens, the situation analysis was conducted on the basis of the news related to children published in various media from July/August to October/November, 2019.
“As many as 67 minor girls were raped or molested while five boys were subjected to molestation by the pedophiles,” read the report. Seven of the girls were gang raped.
One of the victims was gang raped in the involvement of her own brother, the report stated.
At least 23 girls were raped by acquaintances, 19 by neighbours, 11 by fathers or other family members, four by teachers or by civil servants and seven by unknown. “Of the total 11 girls who were raped by family members, five were raped by their fathers.”
“ Five of the perpetrators were minors while four were elderly men aged above 60 years,” read the report.
Five girls aged below five years were raped within the period. The largest number of rape victims belongs to the age group of 11 to 14 years, with 27 cases, followed by 15 to 18 years with 22 cases.
The incidents were reported in 34 districts, according to the report. Okhaldhunga has reported the highest number of rape cases, at seven.
Similarly, the report shows that total 116 children ( 80 girls and 36 boys ) got married before reaching the marriageable age. Within the period, 80 cases of child marriage were reported.
The NCRC estimated that many more child marriages have gone unreported.
As per the report, 36 minor couples tied nuptial knot before they reached 20 years while 41 minors girl got married to adult and three minor girls got married to a person with huge age difference.
Fifty three children tied nuptial knot following their love affairs, marriage of 38 children were arranged by their family and 22 got married through social media like Facebook.
Morang district has reported the highest number of child marriage where 22 children got married.
Still Nepal is ranked as one of the top country where child marriage prevails.
According to UNICEF, Nepal is the only country in South Asia with a significant prevalence of child marriage among both boys and girls.
The analysis of child grooms among 82 countries by the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund ranked Nepal as one of the top 10 countries where there is a high prevalence of child marriage among boys.
Gauri Pradhan, a prominent human rights defender, attributed rise in reported cases of both sexual abuse and child marriage to the increased public awareness against the crime and improved reporting.