Child abuse cases: Is conviction of culprits a far cry?

Chennai: Repeated incidents of child sex assault, in the past two months, has come as a rude shock to Tamil Nadu but conviction rate of the accused has been quite low prompting the need to sensitize people about Pocso Act.

The spotlight is on the vulnerability of girl children and also on how justice is delayed. Child rights activists blame the state government for not making police personnel aware about the provisions of the Protection Of Children From Sexual Offenses Act (Pocso Act), 2012.

Revealing such horrific cases, Sherin Bosko, co-founder of Nakshatra said the police personnel are mostly unaware of the sections of Pocso Act. The case of a six-year-old girl, assaulted by a 26-year-old man in 2014, has not progressed before the Madras high court for more than a year, as the public prosecutor was oblivious of the insights of Pocso Act. “Only after we included the Section 5 of the act (Aggravated penetrative sexual assault), was the accused was convicted to ten years of imprisonment,” said Bosko.

Explaining on various provisions of Pocso Act, she said, “Section 29 of Pocso tells us that the victim or the police doesn’t require to prove the crime . Circumstantial evidence is all that matters and the responsibility of proving innocent in POCSO related cases solely lies on the accused.”

Delay in judicial proceedings, which defies the act, is also a reason behind case withdrawals. The act makes it mandatory for the court proceedings to be completed within a year.

“Irritated over the delays and caught in an uncomfortable situation in the society, most of the families turn hostile.  It is unfortunate that the corrupted public prosecutors act as negotiators for the compromise between the parties.   That way, justice is just a far cry,” said advocate Kannadasan, adding that the rich and influenced have been easily escaping conviction. “Child Welfare Committee and the State Commission for women should play a bigger role in creating awareness on Pocso,” he opined.

Where is justice?

A 16-year-old girl who was raped by her 27-year-old neighbour two years ago is in a hiding, as the culprit is free on bail. While she is yet to cope up with the horrific incident that made her pregnant and undergo an abortion, the culprit threatens the family to withdraw the case.

Shockingly, the public prosecutor had not included section j(2) of Pocso Act which speaks of penetrative sexual assault resulting in pregnancy.  The girl, who is detached and unwilling to socialize, is thus silently waiting for justice.