News Analysis India

Tag: POCSO

  • 14-year-old girl gang-raped in Uttar Pradesh’s Firozabad, 3 detained 

    By PTI

    FIROZABAD: A 14-year-old girl was allegedly raped by three men in a village here on Diwali night, police said on Monday.

    The teenager was forcibly taken to an agricultural field by three men when she was lighting earthen lamps outside her home on Thursday, according to a complaint lodged by the girl’s father.

    Superintendent of Police MC Mishra said the girl was recovered late in the night and she told her family members about the rape.

    An FIR was registered against Dharmveer, Naresh and Ashish on Sunday and the three of them were detained the next day.

    The police are recording the statement of the girl, Tundla Circle Officer Abhishek Srivastava said.

  • Over 99 per cent crimes registered in 2020 under POCSO Act were against girls: NCRB data

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: More than 99 per cent of crimes registered under the POCSO Act in 2020 were against girls, according to NCRB data which showed that girl child continues to be part of one of the most vulnerable sections of the society.

    An analysis of the latest NCRB data by NGO Child Rights and You (CRY) revealed that among 28,327 children who were victims of crimes reported under the POCSO Act, 28,058 were girls.

    A deeper analysis of the cases reported under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act showed that crimes against adolescent girls within the 16 to 18 age group were the highest at 14,092, followed by 10,949 crimes against girls within the 12 to 16 age group.

    Though both boys and girls are almost equally prone to abuse, the NRCB data revealed that girls irrespective of all age-groups are more vulnerable to sexual offences than boys.

    On the occasion of International Day of the Girl Child on Monday, CRY said girls are being celebrated all across the world and much being talked about their rights but they continue to be one of the most vulnerable sections of the society as shown by the NCRB data.

    According to the latest data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) last month, more than 99 per cent of crimes committed in 2020 under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act were against girls.

    Priti Mahara, the director of policy research and advocacy at CRY, said recent trends of girls bearing the brunt of crimes against children should not be seen in isolation.

    “It is vital to understand that along with the protection-related challenges, aspects linked to education, social protection, poverty, etc. also play a significant role in the empowerment of the girl child; and assessing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on these parameters is equally crucial,” she said.

    “During the crises, girls face multiple vulnerabilities” their access to education is further restricted and they become more exposed to the risks of child marriage.

    They are also more likely to experience violence and sexual exploitation in multiple forms and degrees,” said Mahara.

    Emphasising on the emerging need of a strong child protection mechanism, Mahara said over the past few years, some progress has indeed been made in terms of girls’ education and strengthening child protection systems, but the pandemic has derailed the growth.

    Since the vulnerability has now increased multifold, chances of girls dropping out of the education system and falling from the protection safety-net has correspondingly increased, she added.

    Mahara said girls, particularly the ones in their adolescence, face many protection risks during and after any humanitarian crisis.

    “Given the immediate and long-term risks arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, the need of the hour is therefore to reinforce gender responsive protection interventions and ensure that these are implemented to the fullest,” she said.

  • Man handed five-year jail term for sexual harassment of girl child in Uttar Pradesh

    By PTI

    MUZAFFARNAGAR: A POCSO court in Shamli’s Kairana has sentenced a man to five years in jail for sexually harassing a girl child last year, officials said on Saturday.

    Apart from the quantum of punishment, Special Judge Mumtaz Ali on Friday evening imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on convict, Jai Bhagwan, after holding him guilty under Sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 9 and 10 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act here.

    According to special lawyer Pushpendra Malik, the five-year-old girl was sexually harassed by Bhagwan in Adarsh Mandi police station area of Shamli district on August 1, 2020. n another case, one Monu alias Kokin was handed 10 years and 11 months imprisonment under charges of the UP Gangsters Act by a special court in Muzaffarnagar.

    Besides, Special Judge Radhey Shyam Yadav has also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on the convict. Monu was booked under the Act for involvement in several robbery cases in Bhora Kalan police station area in the district in 2011.

  • Teacher sentenced to 20 years in prison for raping student in Rajasthan

    By PTI

    KOTA: A 56-year-old government school teacher has been sentenced to 20 years in prison by a POCSO court here for raping a Class 10 student of his school in 2019.

    POCSO court judge Hanuman Prasad also imposed a fine of Rs 47,000 on the convict Fariyad Ali on Wednesday, public prosecutor, Suresh Kumar Verma, said on Thursday.

    The teacher first molested the girl during a school trip to Ramgarh on January 17, 2019.

    After the trip, the teacher offered to drop the girl to her home and raped her on the way.

    Ali continued to molest and rape the minor survivor in school thereafter.

    The minor then lodged a case against the teacher at Itawa police station on March 13, 2019.

    Ali was booked under the POCSO Act and was arrested following the initial investigation in the matter.

    He has been in jail since then.

    Statements of at least 11 witnesses were recorded during the trial of the case.

  • Two girls taken hostage, gang-raped in UP cyber cafe by four men

    By PTI

    KANNAUJ (Uttar Pradesh): Two girls were allegedly held hostage and gang-raped in a cyber cafe here when they had gone to get some documents photocopied, police said on Monday.

    Four men took hostage of the two girl students at the cafe on September 13 and one of the accused also recorded the act, police said.

    The accused also extorted Rs 10,000 from the girls, threatening to circulate the video.

    Superintendent of Police Prashant Verma said a case was registered at Sadar Kotwali on Sunday against six people, including a woman, based on the complaint of one of the girls.

    The 17-year-old student in her complaint said she had gone to the cyber cafe along with her friend at noon on September 13 when four people, who were already present there, raped them.

    One of the accused also made a video of the act and handed it over to his brother-in-law who extorted Rs 10,000 by threatening to make it viral, police said.

    The girl said she and her friend stole money from their houses to give it to the accused, police said. It was the missing money which alerted their family members after which the incident came to light, they said.

    The girls have been sent to the district hospital for medical examination.

    Police are raiding all possible places, the SP said, adding in the initial investigation, the police have found signs of prostitution from the cafe.

    The victim had said that after the incident, the wife of one of the accused made her phone calls pressurising her into prostitution and some neighbours have also spoken about presence of young girls there, he added.

    The SP said efforts are on to nab the accused.

  • Ward boy held for molesting minor girls in Goan hospital lift 

    By PTI

    PANAJI: A ward boy of a government-run hospital in Goa was arrested on Sunday for allegedly molesting two minor siblings in a lift of the medical facility, a police official said.

    The incident took place between September 23 and 25 when the two sisters, aged 13 and 14, were frequently visiting the North Goa District Hospital in Mapusa town, around 10 km from here, where their mother was admitted, he said.

    “The ward boy used to follow them in the lift and allegedly molested them over the last couple of days,” the official said, quoting a complaint filed by family members of the victims.

    Based on the complaint, the 47-year-old accused was arrested and a case was registered against him under various Indian Penal Code Sections, including 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, he said.

    Besides, the police have also registered a case against a Mapusa-based doctor for allegedly molesting a woman patient in his clinic on September 22, the official said.

    In her police complaint, the woman alleged that the doctor behaved inappropriately with her during her checkup, he said.

    The doctor has moved a local court seeking anticipatory bail in the case, he added.

  • Touching cheeks of child without sexual intent not offence: Bombay High Court

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Touching cheeks of a child without sexual intent would not attract the offence of sexual assault, the Bombay High Court said while granting bail to a 46-year-old man accused of sexually abusing an eight-year-old girl.

    A single bench of Justice Sandeep Shinde on August 27 granted bail to the accused Mohammad Ahmed Ulla arrested on July 2020 by the Rabodi police in the neighbouring Thane district.

    “In my view, touching the cheeks without a sexual intent would not attract the offence of ‘sexual assault’, as defined under Section 7 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act,” the high court said.

    “Primary evaluation of the material on record does not suggest that the applicant allegedly touched the cheeks of the victim with a sexual intent,” it added.

    Justice Shinde, however, clarified in the order that the observations made by him should be construed as the opinion only for bail in this matter and the same shall not in any way influence the trials in other matters.

    According to the prosecution, Ulla allegedly called the girl inside his meat shop where he touched her cheek, opened his shirt, and was about to open his pant.

    A woman, who had seen the accused taking the girl to his shop, went to the spot after growing suspicious.

    An FIR was registered and Ulla was arrested.

    He is presently lodged at the Taloja prison in Navi Mumbai.

    He was booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (PPCSOA).

    Ulla in his bail plea said he was falsely implicated in the case by his rivals in business.

    He claimed that he had no criminal antecedents and was running the meat shop and living in that area for since long.

  • 43,000 offences under POCSO Act registered last year: AG KK Venugopal to SC

    By ANI

    NEW DELHI: As many as 43,000 offences registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in the last year, Attorney General of India KK Venugopal told the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

    Venugopal provided the information during the hearing of appeals against the controversial Bombay High Court judgment that held that groping a minor’s breast without “skin to skin contact” cannot be termed as sexual assault as defined under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

    The Attorney-General said that it’s an outrageous judgement so far as POCSO is concerned.

    “The judge said skin to skin contact is required. This would mean someone can wear a surgical glove and exploit a child and get away scot-free. The accused tried to bring down the salwar and even then bail was granted. This would be a precedent for magistrates in Maharashtra. Better appreciation would be needed for the definition of sexual assault. There are 43,000 POCSO offences in the last year,” he said.

    The Court was hearing petitions filed by the Attorney General, State of Maharashtra and the National Commission for Women (NCW) against the January 19 judgment passed by the High Court, which held that pressing the breast of a 12-year-old child without removing her top will not fall within the definition of ‘sexual assault’.

    A Bench of Justices UU Lalit and Ajay Rastogi directed its Legal Services Committee to appoint a lawyer to represent the accused in the case.

    Since the accused are not being represented, the Bench directed SC Legal services Committee to make available services of any senior advocate on its panel along with any other Advocate-on-Record (AOR) to appear on behalf of the accused.

    The matter will be next heard on September 14.

    Earlier, the apex court-appointed senior advocate Siddharth Dave to assist it in the case.

    On January 27, the top court had stayed the operation of the January 19 verdict of the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court after the Attorney General had mentioned and said the order is “very disturbing” and will set a “dangerous precedent”.

    The Attorney General, NCW, Maharashtra, Youth Bar Association of India while challenging the High Court order in the apex court stated that such observations would have a wide impact on the entire society and public at large.

    Seeking to set aside the High Court order, the appeals said that the observations made by the High Court were “unwarranted” and concern the modesty of a girl child.

    One of the pleas pointed out that while passing the impugned judgment, the single judge recorded the name of the victim child. As per law, the names of victims of certain offences cannot be published. The pleas also sought to stay on the verdict as interim relief.

    “Single Judge had made various observations, concerning the modesty of a girl child, which is not only derogatory and defamatory but the same are also in utter disregard to the applicable laws,” Association’s appeal added.

    Justice Pushpa Ganediwala of the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court, while passing judgement on January 19, had held that there must be “skin to skin contact with sexual intent” for an act to be considered sexual assault. “Mere groping will not fall under the definition of sexual assault,” the judge said.

    The judge modified the order of a sessions court, which had held a 39-year-old man guilty of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl and sentenced him to three years of imprisonment.

    As per the prosecution and the minor victim’s testimony in court, in December 2016, the accused had taken the girl to his house in Nagpur on the pretext of giving her something to eat and then gripped her breast and attempted to remove her clothes.

    However, the High Court said since he groped her without removing her clothes, the offence cannot be termed as sexual assault and, instead, constitutes the offence of outraging a woman’s modesty under IPC section 354.

    The High Court acquitted him under the POCSO Act while upholding his conviction under IPC section 354. Section 354 entails a minimum sentence of imprisonment for one year, sexual assault under the POCSO Act entails minimum imprisonment of three years. 

  • Man given death penalty for raping, killing toddler; hearing completed in less than two months

    By PTI

    BAHRAICH: A court here Monday awarded the death penalty to a 30-year-old man for raping and killing a toddler, a case in which the hearing was completed and the judgment delivered in less than two months.

    Additional Sessions Judge (Rape and Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences Act) Nitin Pandey awarded the punishment to Parashuram (30) for raping and killing the girl at a village in Nanpara area on June 22, Special District Government Counsel- POCSO Act, Sant Pratap Singh told PTI.

    The incident took place when the one-and-a-half-year-old child was sleeping in an open courtyard and the man picked her up and raped her at a deserted school-building nearby.

    According to the details of the case, when the girl’s parents did not find her, they started looking for her and spotted her at the school-building, bleeding profusely.

    The man was also with the victim and was caught by the villagers and handed over to the police.

    The girl was admitted to hospital where she died, the counsel said.

    A case under charges of murder and provisions of the POCSO Act was lodged against the man.

    He tried to escape the police custody while being taken to a court, but was overpowered after being shot in the leg.

    Superintendent of Police Sujata Singh said the police had filed the chargesheet within 28 days.

    Counsel Singh said the court completed the hearing in 10 days and reserved judgement.

  • 15-year-old rape survivor gives birth to dead child in UP’s Ballia

    By PTI

    BALLIA: A 15-year-old girl, who was raped multiple times by a man, gave birth to his dead child, police said Monday, adding the accused has been detained.

    Superintendent of Police (SP) Rajkaran Naiyar said Gopal Patel has been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for raping the minor on multiple occasions.

    The girl gave birth to a dead child on July 27, her father said in the complaint.

    Patel used to rape her in absence of her parents and threatened the victim of dire consequences if she told anyone about it, the complaint said.

    The victim’s mother told police that the accused used to tie the girl’s hands and legs and rape her.

    The accused has been detained and a probe in the matter is on, the SP said.