4 child sexual abuse victims denied justice everyday in India Study

Everyday four child victims of sexual offences are denied justice due to closure of their cases by police because of insufficient evidence according to a new studyThe Police case disposal pattern An enquiry into the cases filed under POCSO Act 2012 by Kailash Satyarthi Childrens Foundation KSCF is an analysis of pattern of disposal of POCSO cases by police from 2017 to 2019 and is based on the data and information published by the National Crime Records Bureau NCRBThe study has been released on the occasion of International Womens Day It has been observed that between 2017 and 2019 there has been an increase in the number of cases that have been closed by the police after investigation without filing the chargesheet the study pointed outAs the data shows sexual crimes are increasing in the country over the years While the government recognised the need for a special law and introduced a special legislation to deal with crimes against children viz Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012 POCSO it is disappointing to see its poor implementation on the ground the study notedAs many as 3000 POCSO cases registered and investigated fail to reach court for a fair trial every year and four child victims of sexual abuse are denied justice every day due to the closure of their cases by police because of insufficient evidence or lack of a clue the study saidIt has further been revealed from the NCRB data that in a large number twofifths of POCSO cases which were disposed offclosed by the police without charge sheeting the reason cited was cases true but insufficient evidence or untraced or no clue it said In 2019 43 per cent of cases were closed by police on this ground as per the final reports filed in court the study saidThis is higher than 2017 and 2018 Amongst other reasons false reporting was the second most prominent reason for closure of POCSO cases however closure of cases on this ground has reduced over the years from 40 per cent in 2017 to 33 per cent in 2019 the study saidAlso another analysis of the POCSO cases for the same period 2017 to 2019 by KSCF reveals that there is an urgent need for courts to expedite the justice delivery mechanism as victims of as many as 89 per cent of the cases of child sexual abuse were awaiting justice at the end of 2019The backlog of cases pending investigation is also increasing from year to year as the number of cases whose investigation is completed in a year is lesser than the number of cases in which chargesheets are filed This gap demonstrates that police are not devoting adequate resources to deal with these grave crimes it saidThe study has revealed 51 per cent of cases under POCSO are being registered in Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Uttar Pradesh Haryana and Delhi This brings out the need for social interventions in these states for better protection of children both within their homes and the society it saidThe conviction rate in POCSO cases in these states is between 30 per cent and 64 per cent which needs improvement through better presentation of cases in courts as effective detection and conviction are the measures for prevention of a crime it saidOne of the important facts is that in cases where the victims belong to the poor and marginalised communities their chances of turning hostile during the trial and resiling from the facts in the FIR are high as such victims are subject to both coercion and inducements the study noted This happens especially in the cases where the accused is either a family member or a rich and powerful person it saidTo fill the gaps and address the challenges in implementation of POCSO Act effectively it is recommended that all the cases registered under POCSO must be closely supervised by the Districts Superintendent of Police andor Deputy Commissioner of Police it said At this point of time there is also a need for a dedicated unit in each districtPolice Commissioner for investigating cases relating to sexual offences committed against children it addedThe study recommended that police officers posted in this unit should be specially trained and sensitised and have the correct psychological bent of mind needed to deal with the trauma that women and child victims face There is also a need for more Fast Track Special Courts FTSCs exclusively to try POCSO cases in view of the huge pendency of these cases in courts across the country it saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever