The accused in 166 cases have been convicted under Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act 2012 and a majority of these convictions happened in Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab.
As per the data furnished by National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), 6,816 FIRs have been registered under this Act and in 5,340 cases chargesheets have been filed.
“Rajasthan, with 936 FIRs, had the most number of cases registered, followed by Maharashtra where 926 FIRs had been filed,” said Woman and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi, in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.
“In terms of convictions, accused were convicted in 65 cases in Madhya Pradesh followed by Haryana (46) and Punjab (29),” she said. Rising cases of sexual crime against children has been a worrying trend for the Government. Maneka Gandhi is also batting for giving more teeth to the NCPCR so as to ensure speedy justice to the victims.
“The Minister wants to empower NCPCR with powers to award compensation to the victims directly, initiate judicial probes against the offenders, issue summons through police and take action against those who don’t respond while retaining its powers to recommend action which will be binding on State Governments,” said an official in the WCD.
“Currently, the conviction figures are a tiny fraction of the actual number of cases. The NCPCR should have quasi- judicial powers if the guilty are to be punished in a time bound manner,” he said.
Statistics from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) show that a total of 33,098 cases of crimes against children were reported in the country during 2011 as compared to 26,694 cases during 2010, an increase of 24.0 per cent.
Cases under trafficking of minor Girls increased from 679 in 2010 to 862 in 2011, an increase of 27.0 per cent over 2010. Cases of kidnapping and abduction saw a rise of 34.2 per cent from 10,670 in 2010 to 15,284 in 2011. In the decade 2001-11 a staggering 48,338 cases of rape involving children were reported from across the country.