BENGALURU: It appears that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is not aware about the provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act 2012 (POCSO). On Saturday, he named the pre-school in which the alleged sexual assault on three-and a half-year-old girl took place last week.
A tweet posted at 7.15 am on his official Twitter handle CMofKarnataka says, “Have asked police commissioner to diligently investigate the Bellandur ***** child abuse cases. The guilty will not be spared.”(sic)
Under the POCSO Act, naming the victim or the institution is banned and someone violating the same will have to face imprisonment from six months to one year. The Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KCPCR) can issue summons to the person or organisation for revealing the name of the instituition or the victim.
The tweet was re-tweeted several times soon after. Realising the mistake the tweet was deleted and another tweet without the school’s name was posted.
Meanwhile, KCPCR chairperson Kripa Alva said, “As this is the first time, we have not issued any notice but have warned the authorities concerned who are handling the Chief Minister’s twitter handle. Even MLA Aravind Limbavali had shared the school’s name.
I will send a message to him as well. We will organise workshops for politicians and journalists to sensitise them on such issues.”