Eastern Mirror Desk
Dimapur, July 13: The Kathua rape and murder case may have triggered a massive nation-wide outrage and forced the lawmakers of the country to push for amendment of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 to award a more stringent punishment for sexual crimes against children but the data collected by the Supreme Court Registry has revealed that rape cases against children has increased this year.
According to the data compiled by the Supreme Court Registry based on figures received from 24 high courts in the country, a total of 24,212 first information reports (FIR) connected with child rape cases were filed across India in the first half of this year from January 1 to June 30. Out of the total cases, 11,981 are still being probed by the police (under investigation) and charge sheet filed in 12,231 cases, according to PTI.
It said trials have commenced in 6,449 cases only and it is yet to start in 4,871 cases. The courts have disposed of only 911 cases, which is just 4% of the total FIRs registered in six months.
The data collected by the Supreme Court Registry have been made available on Bar and Bench site. It shows Uttar Pradesh with the highest number of FIRs registered at 3457 from among Indian states and union territories, followed by Madhya Pradesh (2389), Rajasthan (1992), Maharashtra (1940) and West Bengal (1551).
Nagaland has the least number of FIRs registered for sexual offence against children with nine cases.
Among the north-eastern states, Assam registered 904 cases, Meghalaya – 171, Tripura – 76, Mizoram - 69, Manipur - 53, Arunachal Pradesh - 32, and Sikkim – 26.
Chandigarh has the highest disposal rate with the trial courts deciding 12 cases (41%) out of 29 FIRs registered in the state. However, at least 12 states and union territories, including Nagaland have not disposed of any of the cases.
Supreme Court takes suo motu cognisance
In view of the “alarming rise” in the number of rape incidents against children in the country, the Supreme Court on Friday took suo motu cognisance of the matter and has decided take remedial measures to thwart the crime.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Deepak Gupta and Justice Aniruddha Bose appointed senior advocate V Giri as amicus curiae (friend of the court) to assist it in framing guidelines on the kind of directions that can be issued to states on infrastructure and video-recording of the proceedings.
It made clear that no third party except Giri and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta would be allowed to intervene in the matter saying that otherwise nothing can happen in such a matter, reported PTI.
The bench directed the Registry to register the case as a writ petition titled as “In-re Alarming Rise in The Number of Reported Child Rape Incidents” and present the suggestions by Monday for issuance of directions.
It may be mentioned that the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier this week approved to amend the POCSO Act to make punishment more stringent, including death penalty for committing sexual crimes against children. . The amendments also provide for levy of fines and imprisonment to curb child pornography.
The POCSO Act, which was enacted to protect the children from offences of sexual assault and pornography, defines a child as any person below 18 years of age and it is gender neutral.
