Shame! 1,827 Pocso cases in Karnataka last year
Already, 22 Posco cases have been registered so far this year, including the last month's molestation case at a school in Bengaluru.
Bengaluru: The statistics on the number of cases registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act (2012) in the City are frightening. Equally disturbing are the abysmal figures of conviction in these cases.
Last year 1,827 cases were registered under Pocso in Karnataka, out of which 297 were registered in Bengaluru city alone. The rise in Pocso cases is sickening from the 480 cases between November 2012 and end October 2013 in Karnataka to 1,827 in 2016.
According to the City Crime Records Bureau (CCRB) 302 cases were registered in 2014 out of which only nine ended in conviction, 226 are pending trial (PT), 48 cases ended in acquittal, six cases were found to be false and the rest are under investigation (UI). In 2015, 276 cases were registered in the City out of which 228 are PT, 30 are UI, six cases were found to be false and three ended in acquittal.
In 2016, of the 297 cases, 188 are UI, 126 are PT, one case ended in acquittal and 12 were found to be false and were transferred. This year has barely begun and there are already 22 cases registered under Pocso, including the last month’s case of molestation of a three-year-old girl in a primary school in Bellandur.
"Majority of the Pocso cases are registered in North and South East police divisions like Madiwala (SE), Rajagopalnagar and Yeshwanthpur (N). In most cases, the accused are neighbours, often minor boys in the age groups of 15-17 years. Many schools hire support staff without background checks", said a police officer.
The narrative on child sexual abuse in the schools in the City has not changed despite the public outrage at the increasing crime against children. “There has been no systemic change to ensure protection of children. What we see are knee jerk reactions from the police and the State administration. The child protection policy was framed three years ago and remains at the draft stage. We had included several measures to ensure protection of children in schools,” said Dr Shaibya Saldanha, a gyaenacologist and co-founder of Enfold Proactive Health Trust.
“Besides the preventive steps sexuality education in schools is a must but barring a handful of schools, most of them are not interested to introduce it in their curriculum because it will not fetch children marks or get them better grades,” she added.
Chairperson of Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KSCPCR) Kripa Alwa said that the victim and her parents should be provided with legal help at the time of lodging a complaint under Pocso to ensure that the right sections of the Act are added in the FIR.