A new system of police closely monitoring the cases registered under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act right from the registration of the cases and trial and continuously informing the victims and their parents / guardians about the development of the case to ensure the conviction of the perpetrators has been introduced in the southern districts.
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According to Inspector General of Police, South Zone, Asra Garg, police in the southern districts are taking all efforts to get due and early justice to the victims.
Specifically, cases under the POCSO Act are being handled with utmost care and action is being taken diligently. Since registration of cases in sexual crimes and the arrest of the perpetrators alone cannot be considered comprehensive, adequate measures are also taken to ensure that the victims of these crimes are aware of their rights and provided with benefits entitled to them legally.
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First of all, Form-A is issued to the complainant soon after a case of sexual offence against the child is registered. In this process, the services and rights available to child victims of sexual offences are explained to them apart from providing them a copy of the same in black and white through Form-A.
Thereafter, an Initial Assessment Report (Form-B) is prepared by the Investigating Officer containing preliminary details about victim and the offence committed and sent to the District Child Welfare Committee within 24 hours of registration of the First Information Report. This enables the Child Welfare Committee to provide special relief to deserving victims.
“Also, based on the circumstances of the victim children, police are taking efforts to assign a support person to the victim through the District Child Welfare Committee. The support person shall render assistance to the child through the process of investigation and trial. Apart from this, the police are also providing all the assistance to get interim and final compensation to the victims through the court without any delay. Also, all measures are being taken to ensure that the perpetrators of sexual crimes against children are sentenced according to law,” said Mr. Asra Garg.
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An important aspect is that when the accused involved in a case files bail application, the victim or parents or the complainant are informed in writing about the date of the bail hearing in advance. This enables them or someone appointed by them to appear in person during the bail hearing and oppose the same. This empowers the victims to have a presence in the bail consideration process.
Presently, as the next step in the process, when cases of sexual crimes against children are being heard in the court, the victims or complainants are notified about the events of every hearing in the case through WhatsApp or SMS. This system is presently implemented for the first time in Tirunelveli, Tenkasi, Thoothukudi and Kanniyakumari districts.
“ Generally, the complainants or victims remain unaware of the status and progress of the case filed by them. Now this situation has changed completely. The new system empowers the complainants or victims to better follow up the case which may result in enhanced conviction rate in future, increased fear among the perpetrators and eventual reduction of sexual crimes against children,” said Mr. Asra Garg,.
He complimented Deputy Inspector General of Police, Tirunelveli Range, PraveshKumar and Superintendents of Police for the meticulous implementation of this scheme.
“Since this system is proved to be effective, it will get implemented in Theni, Dindigul, Ramanathapuram, Sivaganga, Madurai and Virudhunagar districts,” the IG said.