Even as the government is making strict legislations to tighten the noose on child abuse offenders, the piling number of child abuse cases are a massive deterrent on speedy trials and delivery of justice to the victims and survivors.
On July 25, the Supreme Court was informed that a 150,332 child rape cases are pending and the disposal rate is mere 9 per cent in the country as on June 30.
The huge number of cases only reflect that child-friendly justice system is the need of the hour.?
The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) has been strengthened from time to time to give make provisions for stricter punishment and penalty to child abusers, however even after seven years of its enactment, POCSO does not have a data management system or MIS to diligently crunch and segregate data as per category assigned.?
BCCL
Despite knowing the magnitude of problem, the Centre and state governments have not put a mechanism in place to map child rape cases.
"We are beginning to develop a blueprint of data management system to streamline data in POCSO cases. It will enable us to have the exact number of cases and progress made on trial," a source from justice department told IANS.
"The exclusivity of POCSO courts is the need of the hour in the background of 1.5 lakh cases. In the absence of data management system, it is extremely difficult to collect, collate and analyse data, which impedes the judicial system to fast-track such cases", a source familiar with the developments told the news agency.
During the hearing, Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said: "The country has more cases than judges."
Lack of child-friendly courtrooms, exclusive forensic laboratories, sensitisation of staff to treat victims are the major problems that prevent timely justice.
BCCL
The Supreme Court ordered the setting up of special courts exclusively to try cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, and directed they be made operational within 60 days, reported The Indian Express.
The apex court said these courts will be funded by the Centre.
The apex court said child-friendly courtrooms must be made and questions cannot be posed directly to the victim. A support person will be appointed as a mediator between the presiding officer and the child.