POCSO Act not effectively implemented : CWC chief

'It is mandatory to produce the abused child before the panel'

There are several loopholes in the effective implementation of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO Act) in the district, said Child Welfare Committee Chairperson Asha Nayak. 

Pointing at the police department and the NGOs for violating child rights while handling the child sexual abuse cases, she sought cooperation from the police, NGOs and media in dealing with such cases. She was speaking at an awareness programme on POCSO, for 30 selected resource persons, jointly organised by Padi-Valored and Federation of Mangalore Education Resource Centres at CDPO in Mangalore on Monday. 

She felt police, NGOs and media should be cautious while dealing with the cases involving child rights and sexual abuse. Despite the Act making it mandatory that the abused or assaulted child has to be produced before the CWC, the police skip this process at times. Even when the Committee approaches the police, they show lethargic attitude. They show disrespect to the quasi-judicial body, making CWC a toothless. Even the NGOs violate child rights by revealing the identity of the child, Asha Nayak said.

Narrating one such instance, the CWC Chairperson said that a minor girl who was sexually abused by two men recently, was made to stay over night in the police station. As per the POCSO Act, the victim of sexual abuse can not be detained in the police station after dusk. Despite the law clearly mentioning that first thing that has to be done after the complaint is lodged, is to produce the child before the CWC, record its statement and then make the child undergo medical examination, it has not been followed. Medical evidence is solely enough to prove the case, even in the absence of circumstantial evidence.

POCSO Act, she said, has differentiated sexual assault, sexual abuse and sexual harassment, making the law more stringent for the culprits. In the old law, the victim had to prove the crime, while in POCSO the accused will have to prove that he has not committed the crime. 

 “Though we tend to complain about the slow trial of sexual abuse cases in court, we must also understand the unwillingness of the witnesses to participate in the trial,” she said. 

Asha Nayak added that nearly 60 child sexual abuse cases are under trial in the district court.