The Government of India has legislated various child centric Acts such as the Commissions for Protection of Child Rights Act (CPCR) 2005, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (JJ Act) for protection and promotion of child rights. While the JJ Act, 2015 ensures the safety, security, dignity and well-being of children, the POCSO Act, 2012 is a comprehensive law that provides protection to children from the offences of sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography. It safeguards the interests of the child at every stage of the judicial process by incorporating child-friendly mechanisms for reporting, recording of evidence, investigation and speedy trial of offences through designated Special Courts.
However, police and public order are State subjects under the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India. The responsibility of maintaining law and order, protection of life and property of the citizens including children, rest primarily with the respective State Governments and UT Administration. The State Governments and UT Administrations are competent to deal with such offences under the extant provisions of laws. The Government has issued various Advisories for combating crimes against children.
The POCSO Act has been amended in order to make it more effective in dealing with cases of child sex abuse in the country and notified on 06.08.2019 and made effective from 16.08.2019. It addresses the need for stringent measures to deter the rising trend of child sex abuse in the country on one hand and the menace of relatively new kind of crimes on the other hand. The following amendments have been brought under POCSO Act, 2012 through POCSO (Amendment) Act, 2019:-
As per National Crimes Record Bureau (NCRB) reports, the number of cases registered as crimes against children in the last four reports of NCRB is given below:
SL |
State/UT |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
1 |
Andhra Pradesh |
2059 |
1992 |
1847 |
2397 |
2 |
Arunachal Pradesh |
134 |
181 |
133 |
138 |
3 |
Assam |
1385 |
2835 |
3964 |
4951 |
4 |
Bihar |
2255 |
1917 |
3932 |
5386 |
5 |
Chhattisgarh |
4358 |
4469 |
4746 |
6518 |
6 |
Goa |
330 |
242 |
230 |
196 |
7 |
Gujarat |
3219 |
3623 |
3637 |
3955 |
8 |
Haryana |
2540 |
3262 |
3099 |
4169 |
9 |
Himachal Pradesh |
467 |
477 |
467 |
528 |
10 |
Jammu & Kashmir |
211 |
308 |
222 |
359 |
11 |
Jharkhand |
423 |
406 |
717 |
1247 |
12 |
Karnataka |
3416 |
3961 |
4455 |
5890 |
13 |
Kerala |
2391 |
2384 |
2879 |
3562 |
14 |
Madhya Pradesh |
15085 |
12859 |
13746 |
19038 |
15 |
Maharashtra |
8115 |
13921 |
14559 |
16918 |
16 |
Manipur |
137 |
110 |
134 |
109 |
17 |
Meghalaya |
213 |
257 |
240 |
379 |
18 |
Mizoram |
178 |
186 |
188 |
220 |
19 |
Nagaland |
25 |
61 |
78 |
93 |
20 |
Odisha |
2196 |
2562 |
3286 |
3185 |
21 |
Punjab |
1762 |
1836 |
1843 |
2133 |
22 |
Rajasthan |
3880 |
3689 |
4034 |
5180 |
23 |
Sikkim |
93 |
64 |
110 |
190 |
24 |
Tamil Nadu |
2354 |
2617 |
2856 |
3529 |
25 |
Telangana |
1930 |
2697 |
2909 |
3580 |
26 |
Tripura |
369 |
255 |
274 |
276 |
27 |
Uttar Pradesh |
14835 |
11420 |
16079 |
19145 |
28 |
Uttarakhand |
489 |
635 |
676 |
829 |
29 |
West Bengal |
4909 |
4963 |
7004 |
6551 |
TOTAL STATE(S) |
79758 |
84189 |
98344 |
120651 |
|
30 |
A&N Islands |
50 |
102 |
86 |
119 |
31 |
Chandigarh |
208 |
271 |
222 |
275 |
32 |
D&N Haveli |
11 |
35 |
21 |
31 |
33 |
Daman & Diu |
7 |
28 |
31 |
24 |
34 |
Delhi |
9350 |
9489 |
8178 |
7852 |
35 |
Lakshadweep |
1 |
2 |
5 |
4 |
36 |
Puducherry |
38 |
56 |
71 |
76 |
|
TOTAL UT(S) |
9665 |
9983 |
8614 |
8381 |
|
TOTAL (ALL INDIA) |
89423 |
94172 |
106958 |
129032 |
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 Rajya Sabha today.
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MM/ SB