POCSO cases on rise in Palakkad district

PALAKKAD: The children are having an insecure life in Palakkad,   it seems. The  cases under the Protection  of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act have registered a steady rise in the district in the last three years. Compared to last year,  there was a three-fold rise in the  cases till April 20 this year. According to a  document collected by RTI activist and teacher P. Rajeev Keralassery for the district court in Palakkad,  the total number of cases in 2016 was 136. It rose to 188 in 2017 and  148 till April 20.

It may be recalled that  the accused in the POCSO case,   Mankunnath Moideen Kutty, 60, who  sexually abused  a minor girl in a theatre in Malappuram,  is a resident of Thrithala in Palakkad. The child and her mother  also lived  in a rental house owned by Kutty at Thrithala. “I filed an RTI to get the details of POCSO cases as there were a number of incidents in the district.    The Child Welfare Committee and Childline do  not conduct awareness classes to children and the parents  to prevent such crimes,” Rajeev said.

Police sources at Thrithala said that  they had come under  pressure from different quarters and even from the family of the  child to hush up the case. POCSO special public prosecutor in Thrissur Pious Mathew said,   “I think  the Childline and the committee are conducting awareness classes, but more focus needs to be given to  such classes in  schools.”    He said the POCSO cases in Thrissur district had also increased like in Palakkad in the past three years.