India would take 20 yrs to clear backlog of 2016 POCSO cases: Kailash Satyarthi

While crimes against children continue to be on the rise, Nobel Peace Laureate and child rights activist Kailash Satyarthi says it will take over 200 years in some cases to complete the trial of pending cases in court.

Satyarthi's foundation released a report — 'The Children Cannot Wait' — which discusses the status of pending trials in child sexual abuse cases in India under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. In 2015-16, merely one-tenth of the total cases under trial were completed, the report states.

The report calculates the approximate number of years that will be required to complete the number of pending trials at present, with an assumption that the case disposal rate during 2016 remains constant. "While India will take at least 20 years to clear the backlog of 2016, at the state level it varies from two years in Punjab, to more than 200 years in Arunchal Pradesh, to complete trial of pending cases," states the report.

"Do you think that a 15-year-old girl abused today will be attending court hearings when she turns 60?" asked Satyarthi.

In the light of the recent Kathua rape case, Sathyarthi told DNA, "We are demanding a stronger judicial system. There should be a National Tribunal for children and special courts in each district to deliver speedy justice. Fifty-five children are raped every day and eight children go missing every hour. We have to wage a war against child crimes."

Pending cases have just been swelling over the years, and witnessed a 37 per cent increase from 52,309 in 2014 to 71, 552 cases in 2015, and a further 26 per cent increase to 89, 999 in 2016.

Of all the cases registered under POCSO, conviction rate was only 30 per cent between 2014 and 2016.

This apart, the report states that of 48,060 POCSO cases registered for investigation in 2016, only 30,891 were sent to court for trial, which means that upto 36 per cent are still pending investigation.

JUSTICE DELAYED!

2117 (+99 yrs)
Arunachal Pradesh  

2071(+53 yrs)
Gujarat

2055 (+37 yrs)
Andaman/Nicobar

2048 (+30 yrs)
Manipur

2039 (+21 yrs)
Kerala

2035 (+17 yrs)
West Bengal

2033 (+15 yrs)
Meghalaya

(Source: Report — Children Can’t Wait by Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation)