NEW DELHI, Feb 7: The Rajya Sabha on Friday took up a private member’s bill to amend the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act 2012, with members cutting across party lines calling for the need to introduce more “victim-centric” reforms to add more teeth to the legislation and ensure its effective implementation.
Introducing the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Amendment), 2024 Bill for consideration and passage during the private member’s legislative business, Fauzia Khan of the NCP-SCP called for severe punishment to sexual predators targeting children.
She pointed out that according to the NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau), POSCO cases increased over 94 per cent in six years since 2017. The number of registered cases increased to well over 2 lakh in May 2024, of which 1.62 lakh were disposed of.
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“The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Amendment Bill 2024 aims to address these challenges by introducing victim-centric reforms. The key objectives of this Bill include addressing ambiguities in reporting offences and compensating victims; introducing clear and structured compensation procedures to prevent delays; mandating training for stake-holders, including educational institutions and child care personnel to ensure effective implementation,” Khan said.
Under the proposed Bill, police, or the special juvenile police unit, must present the child before the child welfare committee and report the case to the special court — or the sessions court if the special court is unavailable — within 24 hours of the reporting of the incident.
This is a significant change as no specific timeline was previously mandated, she said.
The proposed Bill aims to establish a clear and structured procedure to ensure that victims of sexual offences, particularly minors, receive timely compensation without procedural delays or inconsistencies, Khan said.
“This Bill is a significant step towards making the POCSO Act more victim-centric and effective by addressing existing ambiguities. The amendments aim to improve the transparency and effectiveness of the implementation of the Act, proper training for stakeholders combined with a clear compensation and reporting mechanism will ensure that child victims receive the protection, support and justice they deserve,” she said.
Speaking on the proposed amendments to the POCSO Act through the Bill, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said in December 2019, the Rajya Sabha took up a discussion on the same issue and then Chairman Venkaiah Naidu had constituted a committee of members to examine the issues of social media, child pornography and online sexual abuse and submit a report.
“On 25 January 2020, this Committee submitted its report titled ‘Alarming issue of pornography on social media and its effect on children and society’,” Ramesh said.
He said the report comprised five recommendations, including legislative change required in POCSO 2012; technological; and institutional measures needed to combat the issue; and awareness campaigns.
Ramesh urged the minister concerned to examine the report and called for measures apart from those within the scope of POCSO to be taken to address the issue.
Radha Mohan Das Agrawal of the BJP said a large number of child sexual offences are committed within the victim’s home by family members and called for awareness regarding the issue, stressing that there is no provision of psycho analysis by the education and private/government service system.
He cited the limitations of the Act in bringing the perpetrators of child sexual offences to justice, and highlighted the psychological manifestation of victims of sexual offences, particularly children.
He called upon the House to contemplate over child sexual offences and appoint a national-level working group to examine the issue in detail.
Participating in the discussion, Sudhanshu Trivedi of BJP said this is an issue that needs a broad and open-minded discussion. This has technical and legal aspects one side and moral and consensual aspects also.
He further said the present government has taken several steps and brought strict legislations such as the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 2018 and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Amendment bill, 2019.
Moreover, Complaint Management Systems such as SHe-Box and Integrated child helpline have been made operational in over 600 districts.
He also called for a child marriage-free India and said the government has gone for the child pornography definition making sure no one gets the benefit of a legal loophole.
He further said child sexual abuse cannot be converted to marriage and child marriage cannot be justified in the name of tradition and customs.
Sanjeev Arora of AAP said a lot has been done and more needs to be done to protect children from heinous crimes. He suggested the use of mandatory training and awareness among the children.
He also suggested to enhance digital tracking and monitoring besides conducting public awareness campaigns against such abuses.
Sanjay Yadav of RJD said most of the victims of child abuse are from the downtrodden classes and most of them could not face the lengthy judicial process.
There is a need to not only provide legal assistance but also financial help for the relocation and social integration of the victims.
The bill will be taken up for further discussion and passage at a later specified date. (PTI)
