In a shocking revelation, for two consecutive years as many as 19 States and Union Territories have not reported a single case where an institution or an individual failed to report a sexual offence against children under their care. Non-reporting of sexual offences against children is a crime under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act 2012.
The Centre has admitted to the vast under-utilisation of the relevant provision under the legislation.
Data available with the Ministry of Home Affairs showed that in two years, only 81 cases were reported across the country while 19 States failed to file a single case during this period. The data pertained to the period from January 1, 2016 till August, 2017.
The data came pursuant to an order passed by a Supreme Court Bench of Justices Madan B lokur and UU lalit on a PIl dealing with the need to prevent pornographic and sexually violent videos from being circulated on social media. The court is examining a number of areas related to this issue of which one was the need to have a stringent legal mechanism in place to make non-reporting of such crimes more stringent.
The petitioner NGO Prajwala represented by advocate Aparna Bhatt informed the court about Sections 19 and 21 of POCSO Act which specifically deals with non-reporting of sexual offences involving children. Based on this information, the Bench directed the Centre on September 4, 2017 to contact all States and Union Territories and obtain information on the number of cases registered under the above two provisions in the last two years.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) produced a chart showing how this provision remained largely under-utilised with 22 out of 35 States and UTs not registering a single case in 2016. Till August this year, the tally remained same with 22 out of 35 States/UTs (though not the same States/UTs) showing zero registration.
The few States that were proactive to register complaints include Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra with 11 cases each registered in 2016 followed by Karnataka (7 cases) and Kerala (3 cases).
Section 19 of POCSO Act makes it mandatory for persons/institutions/companies to report the commission of an offence involving sexual offence against children under their control. The punishment for this offence is contained in Section 21 of the Act which states, "Any person, being in-charge of any company or an institution who fails to report the commission of an offence in respect of a subordinate under his control shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year and with fine. In case of individuals, this punishment may extend only to six months.
Online videos of rape, sexual harassment and sexual violence widely circulated on social media and Youtube had alerted the court which ordered Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe the same and register nine FIRs. Besides, tightening the legal regime, the court has engaged internet service providers Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, and WhatsApp to share technical expertise to ensure such videos are taken down on its own. Even the Centre has been asked to assist by forming a quick response team to coordinate with these companies. The court is expected to hear the matter next on Monday.