HC judge calls for a proper legislation to tackle child abuse at hands of parents

Senior judge of the High Court of Karnataka Justice B Veerappa on Saturday called for a proper legislation to tackle child abuse at the hands of parents. He was speaking at the state-level multi-level stakeholders’ consultation on implementation of Pocso Act, 2012.

Justice Veerappa, who is also the executive chairman of the Karnataka state legal services authority (KSLSA), said that there is a need for a legislative change where the love affair cases are considered different, other than the cases of child sexual abuse under the Pocso Act.

Indicating at the cases of custody of children before the court, Justice Veerappa said that judges are witnessing that most child abuse cases are because of the educated parents’ personal ego.

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“It is high time for UNICEF, the state, to have a proper legislation to implead the father and the mother in a criminal case so that most of the abuses on children will be stopped. Most child abuse is from the parents because of the educated parents for their personal ego,” Justice Veerappa said. He also said that while the registration of cases under the Pocso Act is high in the state, KSLSA has made sufficient awareness to fight against child sexual abuse.

Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale said that Pocso Act is a gender neutral legislation and has been brought to safeguard the children at every stage of judicial proceedings, including at the time of trial through child friendly courts.

He also said that the state has 28 exclusive child-friendly courts designed in such a way that victim children are not re-traumatised.

Justice K S Mudagal, Chairperson of the Juvenile Justice Committee, said that as against 47 cases in 2012, the year Pocso Act came into force, in 2022, as on September, 2,333 cases involving 2,511 victims are registered in the state.