THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: On December 14 last year, a special fast-track court acquitted a 23-year-old youth who was accused of rape and murder of a six-year-old girl at Vandiperiyar. The verdict elicited a strong public outcry, prompting the state government to give its consent to file an appeal. Amid the ruction, what goes under the radar is the fact that the conviction rate in Pocso cases has abysmally dipped in the last few years.
As per the statistics, the conviction rate in 2022 slipped to just 15.14 per cent, down from 35.98 per cent in 2018. There were just 301 convictions in 2022, while 1,465 were acquitted.
In 2018, the number of Pocso cases registered was 1,153. During this period, there were 22 convictions, while 136 were acquitted. In 2019, 1,283 cases were registered and the conviction rate hovered around 19 per cent. In 2020, there were 2,163 cases and the conviction percentage was around 25. In 2021, there were 2,647 cases and only 19 per cent of cases ended in conviction.
This worrying trend, according to legal experts, is an indicator of many things, including the rot that has set in within the investigating agencies as well as the judiciary.
T Asaf Ali, former director general of prosecution, said there were several reasons behind the fall in conviction rate in Pocso cases and the judiciary and the government should take steps to address the matter, which is very grave.
“One of the reasons is that too many false cases are being registered and such cases fall flat during trial. Another reason is the botched-up investigation owing to pressure. Many judges of the Pocso courts are inexperienced and that also compounds the woes. The prosecutors, in very few cases, were found to be inept in handling such cases,” he said.
According to Asaf, the faulty investigation arose due to wilful negligence from the cops, political interference, and lack of expertise of the investigators.
However, the public prosecutors offered another perspective. R S Vijay Mohan, the special public prosecutor in Thiruvananthapuram Pocso Fast-track Court, said the conviction rate in contested cases could go up to 90 per cent. “The non-contested cases mostly pertain to the eloping of minors.
The majority of such cases are of lovers. By the time the trial starts, they will be legally married. They would come to the court with their children and don’t want to press ahead with their case,” he said.
The police last year informed the High Court that in many cases the victims and their families opt for out-of-court settlements in return for monetary and other benefits. Since many of the cases are centred on oral statements, changes in statements affect the outcome of the trial, the High Court was informed.
WORRYING TREND
According to legal experts, this worrying trend is an indicator of many things, including the rot that has set in within the investigating agencies as well as the judiciary.