Child Rape in India

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CHILD RAPE IN INDIA

India has one of the largest population of children in the world - Census data from 2011 shows
that India has a population of 472 million children below the age of eighteen, of which 225
million are girls. Protection of children by the state is guaranteed to Indian citizens by an
expansive reading of Article 21 of the Indian constitution, and mandated given India's status as
signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Child sexual abuse laws in India
have been enacted as part of the nation's child protection policies. The Parliament of India
passed the 'Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences Bill, 2011 regarding child sexual
abuse on 22 May 2012 into an Act. The Supreme Court, which is attempting to craft a ‘zero
tolerance policy on child rape incidents.

A bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi said it was regrettable that in Delhi,
out of 172 cases listed for trial since January, only two cases have been disposed of till date.
As per the data collated by the Court, 24,212 FIRs have been registered from January 1, 2019
to June 30, 2019 regarding Child Rape. This includes cases at the trial stage and probe stage.
Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of FIRs registered, 3457. It has disposed of 22 FIRs
which comes to 3 percent of the total FIRs registered. Chandigarh has the highest disposal rate.
29 FIRs were registered in Chandigarh out of which 12 were disposed of, a disposal percentage
of 41.

Until 2012, rape cases, irrespective of the victim’s age, were initially registered only under the
Indian Penal Code, 1860. In 2012, the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, better
known as the POCSO Act, came into force, which specifically provides for punishment for the
offence of rape against a minor. Child rape cases are now registered under both the IPC and
the POCSO Act. When the National Crime Records Bureau released its annual report titled
Crime in India 2016-Statistics in November 2017, the issue of the increasing number of child
rapes was specifically highlighted in many news reports.

All these reports stated that a comparison of the annual reports of the NCRB for the years 2015
and 2016 showed that there had been a 82% increase in the number of incidents of child rape
over a period of just one year. The issue of increasing incidents of child rape in India has been
a source of shame, concern and tragedy for the entire country. The Kathua rape case led to
outrage all over the country, with many demanding the death penalty for the rapists, three of
whom have been sentenced to life imprisonment by a special court in Pathankot. The outrage
over the Kathua incident led to the introduction in July 2018 of the death penalty for rapists of
girls below the age of 16 years, in spite of a critique of the effectiveness of such a move. More
recently, the death penalty has also been proposed for using children for pornographic
purposes, under the POCSO (Amendment) Bill, 2019, which was introduced in the Lok Sabha
in January. While the death penalty for rape has long been demanded, this is the first time,
where it has been introduced. It also altered the fast-track clause from a year to 6 months, so
that such cases would find justice without being coloured by politics. Since this Amendment
was an Ordinance, it still needs to be discussed in the Parliament in order to become an Act.
This discussion will most likely take place this year, and considering the political pressure
involved, it will probably be passed with little discussion. This can be problematic since even
this one (like all its predecessors) is not without its flaws.
The court had taken Suo moto cognizance of the matter and appointed Senior Advocate V
Giri as amicus curiae to suggest ways to ensure faster disposal. Giri told the court that in most
states, including those where the number of such cases was not overwhelming, the disposal
rate was poor. He suggested if appointing special prosecutors only for child rape cases could
be considered. Designated courts hearing cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual
Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO) must not be burdened to hear any other matter, the amicus said.
Giri also said there was a need to restructure court buildings in such a way that they will be
sensitive to the needs of the children.

Justice Gupta said that at present, courts which hear cases under the POCSO Act are within
the regular court complexes. “They should be totally separate,” he said. The amicus sought
time to collate all the relevant facts and present them in writing.

Allowing this, the court said, “We request Shri Giri to proceed with the exercise, to facilitate
which we direct Shri Surinder S Rathi, Registrar of this Court, to work in association with
Shri Giri’s office and get the required information which would be in the context of the total
number of POCSO cases pending in each district of the country. The period for which the
POCSO cases remained pending may also be collected separately.”

Though much needs to be done to provide justice to all victims of sexual assault, various
changes, spread across three decades, have brought some hope for justice. Due to active
legislative and judicial actions, major changes have been made in the approach to be taken by
investigative officers and healthcare providers, and in the process of trial or rehabilitation, in
a case of sexual assault.

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