Thaindian News

New York, April 8 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Lawmakers in New York made choking a crime just some few weeks ago and already many people have been arrested. Police in New York say though the law is just weeks-old, around 2,000 people have fallen foul of the law.

Choking is common in domestic abuse cases but until the law was passed, prosecutors in the state had a tough time proving it. Without physical injuries and visible marks, such cases were often thrown out. That was mostly the reason why the law was passed late last year. In the first 15 weeks that the law has existed, officials say they have made about 2,000 arrests.

The executive director of the state Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence, Amy Barasch, said that, “Strangulation is a tactic of power and control that is very common in domestic violence scenarios.”

Lawmakers in the state changed the law to make obstruction of breathing or blood circulation a crime. Physical bruises and visible marks are not necessary to prove such a case in court. The court accepts a witness account as a proof that the incident took place.

Official records in the state revealed that 94 percent of those arrested were men while the remaining were female. About 60 percent of the cases were reported in New York City.