Karnataka Women and Child Welfare Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar on Wednesday announced the launch of the ‘Akka Force’, an all-women team aimed at tackling crimes against women and children, preventing rape, child marriages, and teenage pregnancies. Currently active in Bidar, the initiative will be introduced on a pilot basis from August 15 in Mysuru, Mangaluru, and Belagavi before statewide expansion.
The force, comprising women police personnel and senior NCC cadets, will patrol colleges and public places. Hebbalkar, replying to JD(S) leader C.B. Suresh Babu in the Legislative Assembly, said Karnataka had recorded 1,799 cases of teenage pregnancies over the past three years: 405 in 2022-23, 709 in 2023-24, and 685 in 2024-25.
Babu, however, disputed these figures, claiming 26,463 cases in just 10 months, including 2,622 in Belagavi. Calling the trend alarming, he urged sex education in schools and stricter measures to tackle sexual exploitation of minors. Hebbalkar clarified that her figures were based on cases before Child Welfare Committees and noted coordinated efforts involving 10 departments to combat child marriages.
