With Parliament passing the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill, 2019, child rights workers in Kozhikode have welcomed the amendment seeking capital punishment for aggravated sexual assault on children.
“Strict punishment will bring down the recurrence of sexual assaults against children,” said Kozhikode District Child Welfare Committee chairperson Babitha Balraj. “Sex crimes against children are increasingly being reported these days and the rate is alarming. The awareness programmes are never enough,” she added.
“We often find that the culprits in POCSO cases, even if convicted, get released in a few years and continue to live normal lives or continue the tirade, while the victims live an isolated life. Capital punishment, in that way, is a relief,” said District Child Protection Officer Joseph Rebello.
‘Culprits may flee’
But he said the delay in the justice system might hinder a just trial and there could be chances of culprits escaping.
“The trial in these kinds of cases takes years to complete. It only leaves the victimised children in trauma,” said Mr. Rebello, calling for speedy disposal of POCSO cases.
Ms. Babitha said the huge number of POCSO cases was the reason for the delay even when they were being tried in a special court.
The activists brushed away the possibility of misuse of the amendment as they said there were very few non-genuine cases registered under the POCSO Act. However, Childline district coordinator Mohammed Afsal said the genuineness factor could be one of the reasons for the very low conviction rate in POCSO cases in the district.
“I examined the cases from 2016 to 2018 and found that conviction was granted in only 9% of the cases while the rest of the culprits got off scot-free,” he said.
There were 230 POCSO cases tried in the special court in Kozhikode and conviction was granted only in 22
“We need to study why this happened,” he added. However, non-genuine cases were often identified at an early stage and would not stand in court, he said.
