The Upper House of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, on Wednesday gave its nod to amendments to the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act to make punishment more stringent in sexual crimes against minors and also including the death penalty for aggravated sexual assault. The Bill would now be sent to the Lower House for Approval.
The amendment is expected to discourage the trend of child sexual abuse by acting as a
deterrent due to strong penal provisions incorporated in the Act. It also has the provision of fines and imprisonment to curb child pornography.
During the discussion on the bill in Rajya Sabha, Union Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani informed the House the Union government is setting up 1,023 fast track courts, to deal with POCSO related cases.
Speaking in the house, Irani said, ‘Recognising that justice delayed is justice denied, the government has sanctioned 1023 fast track courts, especially to deal with cases which are under POCSO, she added.
She also praised the support from the Members of the House for the clearing the passage cutting across party lines.
Responding to comment TMC MP Derek O’Brien statements that, ‘many cases are not even reported because the perpetrator is known to the victim or someone from the family’, Irani said that the government is just touching the tip of the iceberg as many cases are swept under the carpets.
Further talking about about the pending cases, Irani informed the House that the government is taking note of pending cases in various high courts and said that 1.66 lakh cases are pending related to POCSO at several courts.
Talking about setting up of Fastracks courts, Irani said, Centre will seek and supervise the process and will discuss with the Registrar General of every high court to check the progress made in setting up such courts.
Union Minister further added all the progress report received from the Registrar General of every high court, would be shared with the Ministry of Law & Justice, MHA and Ministry of Women and Child Development,” she said.
Union Cabinet, earlier this month, has approved the POCSO Amendment Bill, 2019. The POCSO Act 2012 was enacted to protect the Children from Offences of Sexual Assault, and Sexual harassment.
With the amendment in Section-14 and Section-15 of the POCSO Act, it will be proposed to be amended to address the menace of child pornography. It is proposed to levy fine for not destroying/or deleting/ or reporting the pornographic material involving a child.
The person can be further penalized with jail term or fine or both for transmitting or
circulating such material in any manner except for the purpose of reporting as may be
prescribed and for use as evidence in court.
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