BAMA president Anbumani Ramadoss has said that the government should find out what is the reason for the high number of acquittals in POCSO cases and take steps to eliminate them.
In a statement issued by him in this regard, “The acquittal of the accused in cases related to sexual crimes against children in Tamil Nadu and the stagnation of the trial are increasing year by year. It is worrisome that the investigation of these cases is going in a direction that is against the purpose of the Act to protect children from sexual offenses known as POCSO.
Prabhakar, a lawyer from Chennai, has obtained the details of the cases prosecuted under the POCSO Act in Tamil Nadu in the years 2021 and 2022, among them the cases awarded, the cases acquitted and the pending cases from the State Crime Archives. The details are shocking.
In the year 2021 alone, 4020 cases were prosecuted under the POCSO Act in Tamil Nadu. The number of cases tried in POCSO Special Courts during the year including already pending cases was 9643. However, only 955 cases have been adjudicated. That is, out of total cases, only 9.90% cases have been adjudicated. Even more so in only 202 cases i.e. 21.10% cases the culprits have been convicted. In the remaining 753 (78.90%) cases the opponents were acquitted. The escape of criminals to this extent cannot be justified.
The same situation continues in 2022&. A mere 15.17% of the total 13,399 cases that came up for trial that year, i.e. 2033 cases, were adjudicated. Even more than that only in 25.77%, 524 cases the culprits have been convicted. In the remaining 74.22 cases the enemy escaped. This is too much.
POCSO cases cannot be allowed to drag on without speedy investigation and those who corrupt children who should be worshiped as gods are allowed to get away with impunity. Human animals involved in sexual crimes against children should be punished immediately; It is then that special POCSO courts are set up to facilitate speedy trial of cases based on the principle that others will fear committing sexual offenses against children. But it is not right to delay the trial of POCSO cases even after that. This will only allow criminals to escape and crimes against children to increase.
Similarly, in three-fourths of the cases prosecuted under the POCSO Act, absconding is unacceptable. The reason for this is the glitches in investigations and delays in court proceedings. Child victims in POCSO cases should be investigated by female officers; The rules state that investigations should be conducted in such a way that child victims do not suffer emotional distress.
But in majority of the cases, it is the male officers who interrogate the children. The questions they ask during the interrogation are psychologically traumatizing to the children. Because of this, many children develop stuttering and regressive situations during interrogation. This is the number one reason criminals escape.
Similarly, children cannot remember the minute details of a case filed in a particular year, when it comes up for trial 3 or 4 years later. Sex offenders are acquitted for that reason. Victims in POCSO cases should not be treated like criminals. This is the reason why criminals get away in majority of the cases.
If crimes against women and children are to be prevented, all perpetrators must be punished. Keeping that in mind what are the reasons for delay in trial in POCSO cases? What is the reason for the high number of acquittals? “The government should take action to find out and eliminate them,” he said.
