NEW DELHI: Delhi is no safe city for children, if the latest Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights report is to go by. Every day five children complained of harassment last year. When police arrested Sunil Rastogi here earlier this month, he threw up a sinister revelation. The 38-year-old tailor from Rudrapur in Uttarakhand confessed to 500 molestations across north India over 12 years. All his victims were children.
In 2015-16, 1,737 cases of sexual violence against kids were registered in Delhi, of which just 25 per cent (648) were disposed of. The report states 3,209 cases registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) are pending without any conviction in courts.
The report says South Delhi witnessed 464 cases of child molestation. North Delhi recorded 534. It adds that 101 cases of kidnapping and 42 murders of children were registered.
“These numbers are just those in which the victim has lodged a complaint. A large number of cases go unreported. The reason is a dysfunctional victim support system. Rather than coming up with ideas to act against child abuse, the government should focus on revamping the machinery, which is capable of reducing these numbers,” said Satya Prakash of NGO FXB Suraksha-Childline.
The rate of conviction in such cases—which invite a punishment of minimum seven years—is only 20 per cent. In all, 346 cases ended in conviction. Only 200 victims received compensation, the highest number was from the South East district: 78 victims received a total of `2.7 crore.