Sexual Cases under POCSO

As per National Crimes Record Bureau (NCRB),the latest data regarding the total number of sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, penetrative and aggravated penetrative assault and child pornography cases registered under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences(POCSO) Act, 2012 and total number of cases decided pertains to year 2017. The State-wise data is at Annexure-I.

The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 has adequateprovisions ensuring speedy trial under the Act. Section 28 of the POCSO Act 2012 provides for establishment of Special Courts for the purpose of providing speedy trial. Further, Section 35 of the POCSO Act provides that the evidence of the child shall be recorded within a period of thirty days of the Special Court taking cognizance of the offence and reasons for delay, if any, shall be recorded by the Special Court. Further, Section 35 also lays down that the Special Court shall complete the trial, as far as possible, within a period of one year from the date of taking cognizance of the offence.

However, Police and Public Order are State subjects under the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India. The responsibilities to maintain law and order, protection of life and property of the citizens including children, rest primarily with the respective State Governments and UT Administration.

Besides, the Government of India has taken the following steps to ensure speedy dispensation of justice:

In furtherance to The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018, the Government has finalized a scheme in August, 2019 for setting up of total of 1023 Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) across the country for expeditious trial and disposal of pending cases pertaining to rape and POCSO Act, 2012, in a time-bound manner under Centrally Sponsored Scheme. The Scheme is for one year spread over two financial years i.e.2019-20 and 2020-21.

The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 was enacted for effective deterrence against sexual offences. Further, the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018 was enacted to prescribe even more stringent penal provisions including death penalty for rape of a girl below age of 12 years. The Act also inter-alia mandates completion of investigation and trials within 2 months each.

A “National Database on Sexual Offenders” has been launched on 20th September, 2018 to facilitate investigation and tracking of sexual offenders across the country by law enforcement agencies.

An online analytic tool for police called “Investigation Tracking System for Sexual Offences” has been launched on 19.02.2019 to monitor and track time-bound investigation on sexual assault cases in accordance with the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018.

In order to improve investigation, steps have been taken to strengthen DNA analysis units in Central and State Forensic Science Laboratories. This includes setting up of a State-of-the-Art DNA Analysis Unit in Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Chandigarh.

Guidelines have been notified for collection of forensic evidence in sexual assault cases and the standard composition in a Sexual Assault Evidence Collection Kit. A total number of 6023 officers have been trained by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) and LokNayakJayaprakash Narayan National Institute of Criminology and Forensic Science. BPR&D has distributed 3,120 Sexual Assault Evidence Collection Kits to State Governments/UT Administration as orientation kit as part of training.

A scheme namely Cyber Crime Prevention against Women and Children (CCPWC) has been approved under which an online cybercrime reporting portal (www.cybercrime.gov.in) has been launched on 20th September, 2018 to enable public to report complaints pertaining to child pornography/ child sexual abuse material, rape/gang rape imageries or sexually explicit content.

Annexure-I

SL	State/UT	Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (Total)						Section 4 & 6 of POCSO Act or POCSO Act ( Section 4 & 6) r/w Section 376 IPC						Section 8 & 10 of POCSO Act or POCSO Act (Section 8 & 10) r/w Section 354 IPC
SL	State/UT	CR	CCS	CON	PAR	PCS	PCV	CR	CCS	CON	PAR	PCS	PCV	CR	CCS	CON	PAR	PCS	PCV
1	Andhra Pradesh	378	295	8	455	455	9	183	163	5	339	285	6	107	88	3	65	109	3
2	Arunachal Pradesh	14	4	0	7	6	0	10	4	0	6	6	0	4	0	0	1	0	0
3	Assam	1149	733	52	1356	1017	53	788	569	46	944	795	46	206	121	6	247	167	7
4	Bihar	1356	809	34	1710	907	35	599	402	21	813	465	21	697	377	11	833	404	12
5	Chhattisgarh	1676	1576	345	1890	1856	409	1095	995	223	1191	1165	269	525	511	109	608	606	126
6	Goa	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
7	Gujarat	1697	1712	12	2333	2329	17	1233	1274	9	1733	1707	11	311	300	3	411	434	6
8	Haryana	1139	941	183	1258	1237	218	656	561	125	769	759	147	367	289	49	375	368	59
9	Himachal Pradesh	8	12	1	14	12	1	2	2	0	2	2	0	3	3	0	4	3	0
10	Jammu & Kashmir	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
11	Jharkhand	385	230	17	339	270	25	253	183	13	227	191	21	28	16	2	24	22	2
12	Karnataka	1956	1975	122	2600	2510	139	1308	1430	90	1841	1815	106	367	319	17	409	386	17
13	Kerala	1169	892	33	1258	958	33	250	223	5	239	221	5	524	378	13	538	422	13
14	Madhya Pradesh	1569	1510	284	2275	2014	492	964	908	160	1346	1234	316	571	569	114	881	737	158
15	Maharashtra	5248	4507	498	6991	5321	566	2387	2152	233	3180	2546	284	2746	2250	254	3660	2656	273
16	Manipur	29	32	3	23	34	4	15	22	2	16	22	2	10	9	1	6	11	2
17	Meghalaya	242	151	5	269	207	5	164	98	2	201	144	2	70	46	3	59	54	3
18	Mizoram	194	186	48	196	192	48	129	123	31	131	129	31	57	55	14	57	55	14
19	Nagaland	41	37	9	45	37	16	26	22	4	29	22	9	14	14	4	15	14	6
20	Odisha	249	436	11	454	454	11	150	186	8	204	204	8	46	129	0	129	129	0
21	Punjab	489	384	60	528	543	79	375	290	55	375	395	72	65	45	2	89	82	4
22	Rajasthan	1180	905	89	1164	1150	110	621	506	79	636	623	97	268	189	6	254	253	6
23	Sikkim	87	93	19	124	115	23	55	61	15	83	76	19	25	26	4	34	33	4
24	Tamil Nadu	1587	1642	154	2406	1992	180	1154	1209	110	1776	1469	131	291	297	26	407	346	29
25	Telangana	1632	1061	31	1833	1355	38	1022	685	22	1249	907	28	395	230	6	349	273	7
26	Tripura	139	132	19	192	162	21	90	98	17	152	124	19	47	34	2	39	38	2
27	Uttar Pradesh	4895	4079	819	6303	6287	1796	1609	1412	404	1945	1930	870	3018	2470	389	4011	3949	885
28	Uttarakhand	191	146	17	154	153	17	180	135	17	142	142	17	4	4	0	4	4	0
29	West Bengal	2131	1723	39	1923	1924	41	1197	875	32	1008	990	34	627	490	6	553	504	6
	TOTAL STATE(S)	30830	26203	2912	38100	33497	4386	16515	14588	1728	20577	18368	2571	11393	9259	1044	14062	12059	1644
30	A&N Islands	65	75	1	80	93	1	49	54	0	66	71	0	13	17	0	11	17	0
31	Chandigarh	3	2	0	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
32	D&N Haveli	12	6	3	8	8	3	6	3	3	5	5	3	2	1	0	1	1	0
33	Daman & Diu	5	3	0	7	7	0	3	1	0	3	3	0	1	1	0	1	1	0
34	Delhi	1623	1714	104	2209	2002	110	940	911	64	1153	1055	66	598	709	35	915	835	39
35	Lakshadweep	4	4	0	22	21	0	3	3	0	20	20	0	1	1	0	2	1	0
36	Puducherry	66	56	0	59	62	0	41	34	0	44	46	0	8	7	0	9	9	0
	TOTAL UT(S)	1778	1860	108	2388	2195	114	1042	1006	67	1291	1200	69	623	736	35	939	864	39
	TOTAL (ALL INDIA)	32608	28063	3020	40488	35692	4500	17557	15594	1795	21868	19568	2640	12016	9995	1079	15001	12923	1683
Source: Crime in India

Annexure-I

SL	State/UT	Section 12 of POCSO Act or POCSO Act (Section 12) r/w Section 509 IPC						Section 14 & 15 of POCSO Act						POCSO Act r/w Section 377 IPC						Sections 17 to 22 of POCSO Act
SL	State/UT	CR	CCS	CON	PAR	PCS	PCV	CR	CCS	CON	PAR	PCS	PCV	CR	CCS	CON	PAR	PCS	PCV	CR	CCS	CON	PAR	PCS	PCV
1	Andhra Pradesh	84	26	0	47	45	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	2	1	0	2	17	0	2	15	0
2	Arunachal Pradesh	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Assam	69	39	0	79	51	0	3	2	0	3	2	0	82	2	0	82	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0
4	Bihar	10	5	0	11	10	0	26	5	0	27	7	0	23	19	2	25	20	2	1	1	0	1	1	0
5	Chhattisgarh	24	20	4	31	27	4	6	6	3	7	7	3	14	13	3	20	20	3	12	31	3	33	31	4
6	Goa	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
7	Gujarat	23	22	0	35	35	0	1	1	0	1	1	0	25	23	0	40	39	0	104	92	0	113	113	0
8	Haryana	77	59	7	77	76	10	2	1	0	1	1	0	29	24	2	28	25	2	8	7	0	8	8	0
9	Himachal Pradesh	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0	5	5	0	3	2	1	3	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
10	Jammu & Kashmir	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
11	Jharkhand	42	2	0	33	2	0	24	8	2	17	17	2	6	3	0	6	6	0	32	18	0	32	32	0
12	Karnataka	205	141	8	235	212	8	47	38	3	72	54	4	8	8	1	8	12	1	21	39	3	35	31	3
13	Kerala	104	72	0	106	77	0	109	76	10	166	72	10	148	115	2	160	132	2	34	28	3	49	34	3
14	Madhya Pradesh	7	7	6	11	11	13	8	6	0	11	11	0	19	20	4	26	21	5	0	0	0	0	0	0
15	Maharashtra	36	29	6	48	34	4	9	11	0	14	13	0	68	54	5	75	60	5	2	11	0	14	12	0
16	Manipur	3	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0
17	Meghalaya	2	2	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	1	1	0	5	4	0	6	6	0
18	Mizoram	8	8	3	8	8	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
19	Nagaland	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
20	Odisha	3	2	0	2	2	0	8	22	3	22	22	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	42	97	0	97	97	0
21	Punjab	1	0	0	0	0	0	32	36	0	32	45	0	15	12	3	31	20	3	1	1	0	1	1	0
22	Rajasthan	19	14	0	22	22	0	84	64	1	84	84	2	30	23	0	29	29	0	158	109	3	139	139	5
23	Sikkim	4	3	0	4	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	3	0	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
24	Tamil Nadu	92	91	7	127	105	7	8	8	1	13	16	1	27	14	8	37	29	10	15	23	2	46	27	2
25	Telangana	200	138	3	219	167	3	1	1	0	5	1	0	10	2	0	3	2	0	4	5	0	8	5	0
26	Tripura	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
27	Uttar Pradesh	84	63	11	90	100	16	4	1	4	4	4	11	71	66	7	75	80	9	109	67	4	178	224	5
28	Uttarakhand	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	7	0	8	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
29	West Bengal	166	124	1	138	132	1	2	12	0	1	12	0	14	12	0	18	16	0	125	210	0	205	270	0
	TOTAL STATE(S)	1264	869	57	1326	1123	70	374	303	27	485	374	36	607	424	38	681	527	43	677	760	18	969	1046	22
30	A&N Islands	3	3	0	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	2	0
31	Chandigarh	3	2	0	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
32	D&N Haveli	4	2	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
33	Daman & Diu	1	1	0	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
34	Delhi	38	49	2	70	57	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	47	45	3	61	55	3	0	0	0	10	0	0
35	Lakshadweep	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
36	Puducherry	16	15	0	5	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	TOTAL UT(S)	65	72	2	86	74	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	48	45	4	62	55	4	0	1	0	10	2	0
	TOTAL (ALL INDIA)	1329	941	59	1412	1197	72	374	303	27	485	374	36	655	469	42	743	582	47	677	761	18	979	1048	22
Source: Crime in India

This information was given by the Minister of Women and Child Development, Smriti Zubin Irani, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

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