MYSURU: There has been a rise in the registration of sexual crimes against children in Karnataka with 2019 seeing more cases registered compared to the previous year.
Data from the Karnataka State Crime Records Bureau shows that 2,091 cases were registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act) in 2019 including 1,510 rape cases and nine gang rape cases.
This is an increase of 145 cases from the total booked in 2018. In 2018 police registered 1,946 POCSO cases of which 1,309 were rape cases. In 2017, 1,128 cases of a total of 1,723 POCSO cases were rape cases.
Although the number of cases registered under POCSO have gone up, Kripa Amar Alva, former chairman of Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KSCPCR) cautioned that there need need to distinguish between crimes committed and cases registered.
"I won’t agree that there is increase in POCSO cases. What I have observed is that there is awareness among people now who are coming forward to complain and register the case," Alva told The New Indian Express.
“There may be a small increase but the actual fact is that earlier people were not coming out and reporting such cases but now with better awareness, these cases are getting reported,” she added.
A child rights activist who spoke on condition of anonymity said in most of POCSO and child sexual abuse cases, the perpetrator is known to the child - a close relative, a family member, or a neighbour.
“There is no doubt that the registering of cases under POCSO has gone up but at the same time, it is important to see the conviction rates. A study suggests that the conviction rate is falling every year and the number of cases pending in court are going up,” he alleged.
However, to address this issue, the KSCPCR brought in a standard operating procedure (SOP) recently which ensures child-sensitive processes to work towards speedy investigation and trial.