Kathmandu, June 28 -- Cybercrimes targeting children in Nepal are rising sharply, driven in part by artificial intelligence and the growing digital footprint of young users.

Data from the Nepal Police Cyber Bureau shows an eight-fold surge in cybercrime cases in five years as of last year. In the fiscal year 2019-20, 2,301 complaints were filed. That number shot up to 19,730 in the fiscal year 2023-24.

As of Thursday, with just two weeks remaining in the fiscal year, 17,546 cybercrime cases have already been recorded.

Amid this, cases involving minors are particularly concerning. In fiscal year 2022-2023, only 176 cases of cyber violence targeting children were reported-46 involving boys and 130 involving girls.

That number jumped to ...