Praneeta Prakash 
[Photo: FILE]
Children accounted for half of the victims in serious sexual offence cases filed in the High Court last month.
According to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, 21 indictments involving 22 accused persons and 39 counts of sexual offences were recorded.
Five of the accused were juveniles.
There were 22 victims, including 11 children under the age of 18.
Twenty-one victims were female and one was male.
The charges comprised 27 counts of rape, one count of attempted rape, one count of defilement, five counts of indecent assault and five counts of sexual assault.
Nine incidents involved victims and accused persons who were related.
These included two separate cases in which men aged 67 and 63 were charged with sexual offences against their nine-year-old granddaughters.
A 19-year-old man was charged with two counts of rape and one count of indecent assault involving his seven-year-old sister.
The figures also included three cases of alleged marital rape, involving men charged with offences against their wives.
Among the juvenile cases, a 13-year-old boy was charged with the rape of an 11-year-old girl, while a 17-year-old boy faced two counts of rape involving a five-year-old girl.
Three juveniles were also charged in connection with alleged sexual offences against another boy from their village.
Proceedings against one of them were discontinued because of insufficient evidence.
The ODPP reported that five cases were discontinued. These included a case against a 23-year-old man accused of raping his 17-year-old cousin, which the office said was discontinued because of a false complaint.
