NEWS HIGHLIGHTS
Theme : Governance
Paper : GS - 2
The Constitution of India has incorporated several provisions to protect the rights of children and India has also been a signatory to landmark international instruments.
TABLE OF CONTENT
- Context
- Enactment of the POSCO
- Evolution
- Main Features
- Challenges with the Law
- Key Findings on Crime Against Children
- Road Ahead
Context : An analysis of POCSO cases across India has found gaps in its implementation.
Enactment of the POSCO :
- The Constitution of India has incorporated several provisions to protect the rights of children and India has also been a signatory to landmark international instruments.
- However, India lacked any dedicated provision against child sexual abuse.
- Cases would be tried under different provisions of the Indian Penal Code, which was found to be ill-equipped.
Evolution :
- In the 1990s, a child sexual abuse racket was busted in Goa, following which the state government enacted a law to promote child rights in 2003.
- Also, the Special Expert Committee under Justice VR Krishna Iyer presented a draft code for child rights in India – the Children’s Code Bill, 2000.
- These two initiatives established the basis for dedicated legislation against child sexual abuse.
- In 2005, the Department of Women and Child Development prepared a draft bill to address different offenses targeted against children.
- Contrary to the general perception then, the overall percentage of boys reporting experiencing sexual abuse was much higher than that of girls.
- In September 2010, the Ministry of WCD prepared a draft Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Bill, 2010.
- This after several rounds of revisions came into force as the POCSO Act on Children’s Day – 14 November, 2012.
MAIN FEATURES :
- Gender neutrality: The Act is gender neutral and regards the best interests and welfare of the child. The Act calls for mandatory reporting of sexual offences. A false complaint with intent to defame a person is punishable under the Act.
- Definition of Child: The Act defines a child as any person below eighteen years of age.
- Definitions of sexual abuses: It defines different forms of sexual abuse, including penetrative and non-penetrative assault, as well as sexual harassment and pornography.
- Prevents child trafficking: People who traffic children for sexual purposes are also punishable under the provisions relating to abetment in the Act.
- Preventing re-victimization of child: Adequate provisions are made to avoid re-victimization of the Child at the hands of the judicial system.
- Sensitization of Police: The Act assigns a policeman in the role of child protector during the investigation process.
- Child friendly investigation: The Act stipulates that such steps must be taken which makes the investigation process as child-friendly as possible.
- Speedy disposal: The Act provides for the establishment of Special Courts for the trial of such offenses and stipulates that the case is disposed of within one year from the date of reporting of the offense.
Challenges with the Law :
- Recurrence of such crime: In the context of child rape, many preventive measures and policies do have a definitive impact on preventing child rape.
- Lower conviction: The conviction rates are low under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.
- Investigation bottlenecks: There is a lack of specialized investigators, prosecutors, judges, mental health professionals, doctors, forensic experts and social workers.
- Protection bottlenecks: Inadequate child protection and rehabilitation services, lack of compliance with child-friendly legal procedures are some other concerns.
- Under-reporting: A large proportion of perpetrators are family members or those close to or known to the family. This results in massive underreporting of such crimes.
- Protection of convicts: This concern will only intensify with death penalty, as the child’s family often settles a case of known person preventing him to the gallows.
- Vulnerability: The arbitrariness of the death penalty in India also arises from the discriminatory impact of the choice of what constitutes ‘rarest of rare’.
- Delay of trials: The Kathua Rape case took 16 months for the main accused to be convicted whereas the POCSO Act clearly mentions that the entire trial and conviction process has to be done in one year.
- Communal Politicization: Considering rapes on communal angles is another challenge. The Unnao rape case and Kathua rape case are some of the examples.
Key Findings on Crime Against Children :
- Low conviction rate: The analysis has found that 43.44% of trials under POCSO end in acquittals while only 14.03% end in convictions. For every one conviction in a POCSO case, there are three acquittals.
- Accused were close kin: Out of 138 judgements looked at in detail by the study, only in 6% of the cases were the accused people strangers to the victim.
Road Ahead :
- The social menace of child rape requires sustained planning, engagement, and investment of resources by the government.
- The need of the hour is to prioritize prevention activities against abuse, creating safe (physical and online) environments for children.
- Developing a comprehensive outreach system to engage parents, schools, communities, NGOs partners and local governments as well as police and lawyers is needed.
- This will ensure better implementation of the legal framework, policies, national strategies and standards.
FAQs :
1. What is the definition of the Child according to POSCO ?
Answer : The Act defines a child as any person below eighteen years of age.
2. What are the Key findings on Crime Against Children?
Answer :
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Low conviction rate: The analysis has found that 43.44% of trials under POCSO end in acquittals while only 14.03% end in convictions. For every one conviction in a POCSO case, there are three acquittals.
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Accused were close kin: Out of 138 judgements looked at in detail by the study, only in 6% of the cases were the accused people strangers to the victim.