New Delhi, Dec 11, 2022: Voicing his concern over the culture of silence surrounding child sexual abuse, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud noted on Saturday that the state must encourage families to report abuse even in cases wherein the perpetrator is a family member.
Addressing the inaugural session of a two-day national programme on implementation of the Pocso Act 2012, the CJI also urged the legislature to consider the increasing concern around the ‘age of consent’ under the Act and to re-evaluate the same.
The CJI noted that it is an unfortunate fact that the manner in which the criminal justice system functions sometimes further compounds the trauma of the victims. “The executive must therefore join hands with the judiciary to prevent this from happening,” he said.
Women and child development minister
Smriti Irani also addressed the gathering at the event wherein she highlighted the need to accelerate the trial process and the delivery of compensation to the survivors. She also drew attention to data to say that the average time taken to dispose of a Pocso case is 509 days. The minister also sought suggestions from judges on what could be done infrastructurally to accelerate solutions for children.
“For every conviction, there are three acquittals and 56% of all the Pocso cases correspond to offences of penetrative sexual assault. Aggravated penetrative assault accounts for 25.59% of the cases. Which means that today we have a mechanism that still needs a robust intervention,” she said citing data.
“For every conviction, there are three acquittals and 56% of all the Pocso cases correspond to offences of penetrative sexual assault. Aggravated penetrative assault accounts for 25.59% of the cases. Which means that today we have a mechanism that still needs a robust intervention,” she said pointing towards data.
CJI Chandrachud also noted that the long-lasting implications of child sexual abuse make it paramount for the state and other stakeholders to create awareness surrounding the prevention of child sexual abuse and its timely recognition and the remedy available in law. “Above all, there is an urgent need to ensure that the so-called honour of the family is not prioritised above the best interest of the child,” he asserted.
The CJI added that the families of victims are immensely hesitant to file a complaint with the police so one must be very careful about entrusting excessive powers with the police. The slow pace of the criminal justice system, without a doubt, is one of the reasons for this but other factors also play a significant role in this. “Issues concerning sexual abuse of children continue to be plagued by immense stigma. There exists a culture of silence which stems from shame and conceptions of family honour,” he said. Therefore, the problem of sexual abuse of children remains a hidden problem.
