Indian Express: Kochi: Sunday, August 20, 2017.
At least 26
per cent of the people registered under Prevention of Children from Sexual
Offences (POCSO) Act in Kerala were parents or close relatives of the victim,
revealed Sobha Koshy, chairperson Kerala State Commission for Protection of
Child Rights.
Speaking at a
seminar on POCSO Act organised by RTI Federation in Kochi on Saturday, Koshy
said, in, 2122 POCSO cases were registered by the police in the Kerala. As many
as 1096 cases were registered by Child Welfare Committees (CWC). Of this in 26
per cent of cases, the accused were either the parents, grandfather, brother,
uncles or close relatives of the victims. In 64 per cent of the cases, accused
were persons familiar to the victim, she said.
Koshy, said,
"This indicates that children are not safe inside their houses. A majority
of the cases are reported in families with financial and social challenges. But
it does mean that sexual offences were not taking place in families with
financial and social stability. The reporting of such offence is less in
financially sound families."
Low
Conviction rate
In 2016, more
than 4000 POCSO cases were pending in various courts in the state. Only 14.5
percent cases were deposed, with the conviction rate as low as 11.5 per cent.
"The implementation of POCSO is not an easy effort. It is a joint effort
of various agencies including CWC, police, teachers, parents and the child
rights commission," she said. According to her, one of the major concerns
was that several POCSO cases were being settled within the family and the
accused persons were going scot free.
Misuse of
the Act.
Sobha Koshy
said that POCSO cases were often misused. "People are using POCSO as a
tool in settling scores in family disputes, divorces issues and rivalry among
the teachers. Supreme Court recently came down against the act to prevent
domestic violence following its misuse. POCSO should not meet such a fate. It
ensures the safety of our children," she said.
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