THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Soon, Kerala will have 28 new special fast-track courts dealing with POCSO cases. The union ministry of law and justice has issued clearance for the new fast-track courts for speedy trial of POCSO cases, Social Justice Minister KK Shailaja said on Saturday.
The special POCSO courts are being established jointly by the state and central governments. Each court is being set up spending Rs 75 lakh each. The central and state governments will bear the expenses in the ratio of 60:40, and the Centre has already sanctioned Rs 6.3 crore as the first instalment. The new courts will come up at Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram (three each), Kollam, Kottayam, Idukki, Ernakulam, Kozhikode and Kannur (two each) and one each in other districts.
With this, there will be special fast-track courts dealing with POCSO cases in all districts. As part of the initiative, a total of 57 fast-track courts dealing with POCSO cases will be set up in the state, the minister said. The special courts are being set up in view of increasing incidents of atrocities against children. Currently, investigation is on in 2,497 cases while hearing is going on in 9,457 cases.