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Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Women and Child Development
05-December-2019 15:58 IST
Crimes against Children

The Government of India has legislated various child centric Acts such as the Commissions for Protection of Child Rights Act (CPCR) 2005, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (JJ Act) for protection and promotion of child rights. While the JJ Act, 2015 ensures the safety, security, dignity and well-being of children, the POCSO Act, 2012 is a comprehensive law that provides protection to children from the offences of sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography. It safeguards the interests of the child at every stage of the judicial process by incorporating child-friendly mechanisms for reporting, recording of evidence, investigation and speedy trial of offences through designated Special Courts.

However, police and public order are State subjects under the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India. The responsibility of maintaining law and order, protection of life and property of the citizens including children, rest primarily with the respective State Governments and UT Administration. The State Governments and UT Administrations are competent to deal with such offences under the extant provisions of laws. The Government has issued various Advisories for combating crimes against children.

The POCSO Act has been amended in order to make it more effective in dealing with cases of child sex abuse in the country and notified on 06.08.2019 and made effective from 16.08.2019. It addresses the need for stringent measures to deter the rising trend of child sex abuse in the country on one hand and the menace of relatively new kind of crimes on the other hand. The following amendments have been brought under POCSO Act, 2012 through POCSO (Amendment) Act, 2019:-

  1. Section 2 (Definitions) amended to incorporate definition of child pornography;
  2. Section 4 (Punishment for penetrative sexual assault) amended to increase quantum of punishment from minimum 7 years to minimum10 years, and minimum 20 years in case of child below 16 years;
  3. Section 5 (Aggravated penetrative Sexual Assault) amended to include penetrative sexual assault during natural calamity and similar situations and causing death of child;
  4. Section 6 (Punishment for Aggravated penetrative Sexual Assault) amended to increase quantum of minimum punishment from 10 years to minimum 20 years and introducing death penalty as an option;
  5. Section 9 (Aggravated Sexual Assault) amended to include assault during situation of natural calamity and similar situations. Punishment stipulated for those who give any kind of chemical substance/ hormone to induce early sexual maturity in a child for the purpose of abuse;
  6. Section 14 (Punishment for using Child for pornographic purposes) amended to increase the punishment to minimum five years and to synchronise with IT Act, 2000;
  7. Section 15 (Punishment for storage of pornographic material involving child) amended to introduce fine (Rs.5000/- on first occasion, Rs. 10,000 on second occasion) for not reporting child porn material, which could be extended to imprisonment if such material is propagated. If the material is used for commercial purposes, then the minimum punishment will be imprisonment for not less than three years which may extend to five years or with fine or with both and in the event of second or subsequent conviction with imprisonment for a term which may not be less than five years which may extend to seven years and also liable to be fine or with.
  8. Section 34 (Procedure in case of Commission of offence by child and determination of age by special court) amended to establish consonance with the JJ Act, 2015;
  9. Section 42(Alternative Punishment) amended in order to acknowledge the amendment made vide Criminal Law Amendment Act, 2018;
  10. Section 45 (Power to make rules) amended for consequential amendments in view of amendments in sub-section (1) and (2) of Section-15.

As per National Crimes Record Bureau (NCRB) reports, the number of cases registered as crimes against children in the last four reports of NCRB is given below:

 

SL

State/UT

2014

2015

2016

2017

1

Andhra Pradesh

2059

1992

1847

2397

2

Arunachal Pradesh

134

181

133

138

3

Assam

1385

2835

3964

4951

4

Bihar

2255

1917

3932

5386

5

Chhattisgarh

4358

4469

4746

6518

6

Goa

330

242

230

196

7

Gujarat

3219

3623

3637

3955

8

Haryana

2540

3262

3099

4169

9

Himachal Pradesh

467

477

467

528

10

Jammu & Kashmir

211

308

222

359

11

Jharkhand

423

406

717

1247

12

Karnataka

3416

3961

4455

5890

13

Kerala

2391

2384

2879

3562

14

Madhya Pradesh

15085

12859

13746

19038

15

Maharashtra

8115

13921

14559

16918

16

Manipur

137

110

134

109

17

Meghalaya

213

257

240

379

18

Mizoram

178

186

188

220

19

Nagaland

25

61

78

93

20

Odisha

2196

2562

3286

3185

21

Punjab

1762

1836

1843

2133

22

Rajasthan

3880

3689

4034

5180

23

Sikkim

93

64

110

190

24

Tamil Nadu

2354

2617

2856

3529

25

Telangana

1930

2697

2909

3580

26

Tripura

369

255

274

276

27

Uttar Pradesh

14835

11420

16079

19145

28

Uttarakhand

489

635

676

829

29

West Bengal

4909

4963

7004

6551

 

TOTAL STATE(S)

79758

84189

98344

120651

30

A&N Islands

50

102

86

119

31

Chandigarh

208

271

222

275

32

D&N Haveli

11

35

21

31

33

Daman & Diu

7

28

31

24

34

Delhi

9350

9489

8178

7852

35

Lakshadweep

1

2

5

4

36

Puducherry

38

56

71

76

 

TOTAL UT(S)

9665

9983

8614

8381

 

TOTAL (ALL INDIA)

89423

94172

106958

129032

Source: Crime in India

       

This information was given by the Minister of Women and Child Development, Smriti Zubin Irani, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.

 

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MM/ SB