Jan 26, Colombo: Sri Lanka's National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) says it is working on protecting children who have been subject to abuse as over 10,000 child abuse cases were reported last year in the island.

The Authority says it has received 10,732 complaints on different forms of child abuse during the year 2015.

NCPA Chairperson, Dr. Natasha Balendra said this is a slight increase over the 10,315 cases reported in 2014.

Of the complaints reported in 2015, the highest number of complaints at 2,317 were related to cruelty to children. While 1,463 cases were on not receiving compulsory education, 885 cases of neglecting of children, 735 cases on sexual harassment and 433 cases of rape, and 365 cases on grave sexual abuse.

District wise, the highest number of complaints of 1,522 had been received from the Colombo District while 1187, 827, 700, 634, 622 ,573 and 540 complaints had been received from Gampaha, Kurunegala, Galle, Kalutara, Ratnapura, Anuradhapura and Puttalam districts respectively, according to the NCPA.

The Authority requests the public to make complaints on any kind of child abuse or child right violations via hotline 1929. Hotline 1929 is a toll free 24 – hour hotline dedicated to receiving complaints on child abuse and child right violations. It also provides the opportunity for children to talk when they need child assistant service or inform the NCPA Police investigation unit.