In November last year, the Ernakulam Additional District and Sessions Court for the trial of cases related to atrocities and sexual violence against women and children sentenced a man to 50 years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) for sexually abusing a six-year-old boy.
While the sentence was perhaps fitting for the man, in his 40s, convicted for abusing the boy multiple times while working as a driver-cum-worker of a school bus, the fact that it came five years after the case was registered raises serious concern. Even more traumatising for the victim’s family was that the accused roamed free till the conviction.
Though the statute calls for the completion of the trial of cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act within a year, it does not always happen. As per a report placed before the State Assembly, as many as 10,500 POCSO cases were pending trial across the State as on October last year.
Adding to it is the ever-increasing number of cases reported under POCSO Act each year. From 3,039 in 2020, the number rose to 3,568 in 2021, and it stood at 366 in the first three months of this year.
“The increasing numbers is the result of our sustained awareness campaigns starting from the Anganwadi level on the importance of reporting cases,” said Sini K.S., District Child Protection Officer, Ernakulam.
But the fact that in a majority of cases the survivors were abused multiple times indicates that the reason for the increased number of cases goes way beyond better reporting. Call it the pandemic impact and the resultant shift to online learning, cases of teenage girls getting abused after falling for affairs with guys met online are on the rise.
“Short period flirtations over social media leading to physical relations are being reported with alarming frequency. In one instance, a teenage girl who set out from Thiruvananthapuram to meet her ‘lover’ in Malappuram was intercepted by the Railway Childline that saved her from becoming a potential victim. Girls being threatened into sex with others by the person she had originally fallen for and blackmailed thereafter is not rare either,” said Binu Sanathanan, member, Child Welfare Committee (CWC), Ernakulam.
Cases coming before the CWC are forwarded to the District Child Protection Unit (DCPU), which after a social investigation report refers them to NGOs listed under ‘Kaval Plus’, a project for holistic support to children in need of care and protection and survivors of sexual abuse. In Ernakulam, as many as 30 sexual abuse survivors have been referred thus since last November.
“Under the project, the cases are categorised into mild, moderate, and severe. While mild cases are referred to psychosocial counsellors, moderate and severe cases are handled by NGOs, which draw up individual care plans for survivors, provide counselling and life skill training,” said M.K.P. Hafzeena, project officer for non-institutional care, DCPU, Ernakulam.
Joicy Thomas, coordinator of Kaval Plus, Rajagiri Outreach, who said that both boys and girls were now equally vulnerable, affirmed that social media friendships had emerged the biggest threat since the outbreak of COVID-19.
The closure of schools owing to the pandemic did not help, as children used to open up to their teachers and school counsellors on matters which they were reluctant to share with their parents.
“The age at which children get exposed to sexual affairs has dropped further owing to their increased exposure to online mediums. As young as eight and nine-year-olds are now privy to things to which they got introduced only on reaching 13 or 14 years in the past. It is high time that we introduced sex education as early as the fourth or fifth standard,” said Mahitha Vipinachandran, a school counsellor.
Recently, the parents of an 11-year-old girl were horrified to notice their daughter trying a sexual act with a doll after she accidentally happened to watch a porn video on mobile. She literally had to be given sex education along with counselling.
Realising the increased vulnerability of children in the era of online learning, the Ernakulam Rural police introduced cyber security clubs in over 100 schools since the pandemic. “We are planning to increase the number of schools to be covered and the frequency of sessions on do’s and don’ts in the cyber space by experts,” said K. Karthik, District Police Chief (Ernakulam Rural).
Since January 2021, the Rural police have registered 278 POCSO cases and arrested 312.
However, the police decision to record statements of sexual abuse survivors before the magistrate under CrPC Section 164 often does more harm than good .
“Deviation in the survivor’s account on material points during the trial from the statement given before the magistrate could prove counterproductive. Besides, in many cases, survivors and families are given the impression that the statement before the magistrate is probably their only appearance in a court in connection with the case. So, it is a shock to them when they receive summons to appear in the court later,” said Bindu P.A., Special Public Prosecutor, POCSO Court, Ernakulam.
The fact that not more than three offences of the same kind within a year may be charged together as per CrPC Section 219 also makes life difficult for survivors, as every offence they are subjected to thereafter is treated as a separate case forcing them to live through the ordeal as many times.
The convicts securing suspension of sentences from the Appellate Court under Section 389 of the CrPC remains another major concern.
“There was this call from an anguished mother once on seeing a person convicted for abusing her daughter walking in front of her house the very next day after he was convicted for 10 years,” bemoaned a lawyer who had excitedly shared the news about the conviction with the mother.
The cases in which victims turning hostile or reaching settlement with perpetrators also leave the prosecution helpless.
While the Budget proposal of ₹8.50 crore to set up 28 new fast-track special courts for disposal of cases registered under the POCSO Act, taking the total number of such courts to 56, is expected to give a fillip to faster trial, concerns are being raised about the appointment of judges. The Kerala High Court has urged the State government to roll back its decision to appoint retired district judges to head the upcoming fast-track courts even as judicial officers were also up in arms against the move.
