NCPCR drafts guidelines for regulation of 'support person' in case of child sexual abuse

New Delhi: Helping a child normalise their daily routine, taking them through the process from complaint to compensation, and facilitating the family or the minor victim in obtaining identity documents like Aadhar, PAN card, ration card, and BPL card are part of the draft guidelines laid out by the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights for the regulation of ‘Support Person’ in case of child sexual abuse. 

The rules were necessitated by a Supreme Court directive in a case filed by the NGO We the Women of India as well as a writ petition by Bachpan Bachao Andolan. In its petition, the NGO We the Women of India argued that they approached the apex court after the strife caused to a victim in her “painstaking struggle” for justice while navigating the police, investigation stage, and court processes, for the prosecution of an offence under the POCSO Act.

“At numerous stages, she was revictimized, and faced severe hardships; the issues arising from the individual case, have been dealt with by way of continuing mandamus, wherein this court through a series of orders has monitored the aspects requiring special attention,” the NGO said in its plea.

The Supreme Court, in its directive, asked the government to come up with guidelines for ‘Support Persons’ under section 39 of the POCSO Act, which mandates that professionals be assigned to children who have faced sexual abuse. 

The NCPCR, earlier this week, issued a set of draft guidelines at a consultative meeting, which will be adopted after feedback from experts and the public at large. 

As part of the guidelines, the support person should have either a postgraduate degree in Social Work, Sociology, Psychology or Child Development, or a graduate with atleast three years of experience in child education and development or protection issues. The selection of such a person should be done by a committee headed by the judge of a POCSO court, which has the local  magistrate or their representative.

The support person, apart from maintaining the confidentiality of the child’s abuse, must accompany the child during court proceedings, provide the child with medical assistance, counselling and inform the child about the availability of the legal aid, in addition to informing the child and their family about the procedural steps involved in a criminal prosecution. 

The support person must also submit monthly updates to the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) on the child’s well-being and track each case assigned to them on NCPCR’s ‘POCSO Tracking Portal’. Additionally, District Child Protection Officers must maintain a database of all the support persons they engage at the portal.