Lok Sabha Question No. 3222 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-01-01
Subject: Provisions relating to Child Abuse
Ministry: HOME AFFAIRS
Asked by: ANIL SHIROLE, PARBHUBHAI NAGARBHAI VASAVA, George Baker

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3222

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 01 ST JANUARY, 2019 / PAUSHA 11, 1940 (SAKA) PROVISIONS RELATING TO CHILD ABUSE

3222.

SHRI ANIL SHIROLE:

SHRI PARBHUBHAI NAGARBHAI VASAVA:

SHRI GEORGE BAKER:

Will the Minister of HOME AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

(a) the salient features of the Code of Criminal Procedure(Cr PC) including provisions relating to child abuse across the country;

- (b) the time limit for reporting the incidents across the country, State/UTwise;
- (c) whether cases of child abuse have been increasing in the country;
- (d)  if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the  reasons  therefor,  State/UT-wise including West Bengal and Maharashtra;
- (e)  the  action  taken/being  taken  by  the  Government  to  curb  these incidents;
- (f) whether the Ministry of Women and Child Development has proposed to this Ministry for removal of the time limit for reporting the incidents; and
- (g)  if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the  action  taken  by  the  Government  in this regard?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS (SHRI HANSRAJ GANGARAM AHIR)

(a) to (e): The Union Government has enacted the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018 and following amendments have been made in the Code  of  Criminal  Procedure(Cr  PC),  1973  relating  to  sexual  assault including child abuse:

## LS. US. Q. No. 3222 FOR 01.01.2019

- (i) Amendment in section 173 to provide that investigation in relation to rape  shall be completed within two months,
- Amendment in section 374 to provide that an appeal filed against conviction  or  acquittal  in  cases  filed  under  section  376,  376A, 376AB,  376B,  376C,  376D,  376DA,  376DB  or  376E  of  Indian  Penal Code (IPC) has to be disposed of within a period of six months from
- (ii) the date of filing of such appeal.
- (iii) Amendment in section 438 to do away with the anticipatory bail for persons accused of rape or gang rape of women under 16/12 years of age.
- (iv) Amendment in section 439 to add a new proviso that the High Court or  Court  of  Session  shall,  before  granting  bail  to  a  person  who  is accused of an offence triable under sub-section (3) of section 376, 376AB, 376DA, 376DB of IPC give notice of the application for bail to Public Prosecutor within fifteen days from the date of receipt of the notice  of  such  application.      Section  439  also  provides  that  the presence of any person authorised by victim shall be obligatory at the time of hearing of bail application of the accused.

Further,  section  468  of  CrPC  prescribes  the  time  period  (limitation)  for taking  cognizance  of  various  offences  i.e.  six  months  if  the  offence  is punishable  with  fine  only;  one  year,  if  the  offence  is  punishable  with imprisonment for a  term  not  exceeding  one  year;  and, three years if the

## LS. US. Q. No. 3222 FOR 01.01.2019

offence is punishable with imprisonment for term exceeding one year but not exceeding three years.

There  is  no  period  of  limitation  for  offences  which  are  punishable with  imprisonment  exceeding  three  years  or  which  are  punishable  with death penalty. Further Section 473 of Cr.P.C. lays down that any Court may take cognizance of an offence after the expiry of the period of limitation, if it satisfied on the facts and in the circumstances of the case that the delay has been properly explained or that it is necessary to do so in the interests of justice.

As  per  the  latest  information  published  by  National  Crime  Records Bureau  (NCRB),  details  of  State/UT-wise  (including  West  Bengal  and Maharashtra)  cases  registered  under  the  Protection  of  Children  from Sexual  Offences  (POCSO)  Act,  2012,  read  with  other  sections  of  Indian Penal Code during 2014-2016 are given in Annexure-I.

'Police'  and  'Public  Order'  are  State  subjects  under  the  Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India. The responsibilities to maintain law and order, protection of life and property of the citizens rest primarily with the respective State Governments. The State Governments are competent to deal with such offences under the extant provisions of laws.

The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018, provides for enhanced punishment for crimes such as rape including provision of death penalty for

the offence of rape on women below 12 years; completion of investigation, filing  of  charge  sheet  and  trial  in  rape  cases  in  2  months  and  appeals against  conviction  or  acquittal  to  be  disposed  of  within  6  months.  The other  steps  taken  in  this  regard  include  modernization  and  capacity building of forensic labs for faciliting timely investigation, development of a  National  Database  on  Sexual  Offenders  to  facilitate  investigation  and tracking of Sexual Offenders across the country, a project for developing an  Emergency  Response  Support  System  based  on  a  Pan-India  24x7 Helpline Number 112 and a scheme for setting up One Stop Centre in every district across the country.

Ministry  of  Home  Affairs  has  also  issued  Advisories  dated  14.07.2010  on 'Crime  against  Children'  and  dated  25.06.2013  on  'Hon'ble  Supreme Court's direction to file FIR in case of Missing Children'. These advisories are available on www.mha.gov.in.

In  addition,  the  National  Commission  for  Protection  of  Child  Rights (NCPCR) has launched POCSO e-Box/email/sms on NCPCR website for easy and  direct  reporting  of  POCSO  cases  to  the  Commission.  Apart  from development of manuals such as the manual on 'Guidelines on Safety and Security of Children in School Settings', it  has  conducted  POCSO Awareness Campaigns.

(f) & (g): No such proposal has been made to the Ministry of Home Affairs by the Ministry of Women & Child Development.

*******

## ANNEXURE-I LS. US. Q. No. 3222 FOR 01.01.2019

State/UT-wise Cases Registered under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 for Crimes against Children during 2014-2016

| SL   | State/UT          |   2014 |   2015 |   2016 |
|------|-------------------|--------|--------|--------|
| 1    | Andhra Pradesh    |    932 |   1054 |    830 |
| 2    | Arunachal Pradesh |     56 |     54 |     59 |
| 3    | Assam             |    506 |    819 |    821 |
| 4    | Bihar             |    191 |    187 |    233 |
| 5    | Chhattisgarh      |   1684 |   1656 |   1570 |
| 6    | Goa               |    107 |     79 |     75 |
| 7    | Gujarat           |    613 |   1609 |   1408 |
| 8    | Haryana           |    707 |    988 |   1020 |
| 9    | Himachal Pradesh  |    209 |    206 |    205 |
| 10   | Jammu& Kashmir    |     45 |     30 |     25 |
| 11   | Jharkhand         |    112 |    182 |    348 |
| 12   | Karnataka         |   1380 |   1526 |   1565 |
| 13   | Kerala            |   1392 |   1486 |   1848 |
| 14   | Madhya Pradesh    |   4995 |   4624 |   4717 |
| 15   | Maharashtra       |   3926 |   4816 |   4815 |
| 16   | Manipur           |     50 |     43 |     43 |
| 17   | Meghalaya         |    118 |    167 |    151 |
| 18   | Mizoram           |    165 |    169 |    167 |
| 19   | Nagaland          |     17 |     15 |     27 |
| 20   | Odisha            |   1126 |   1372 |   1928 |
| 21   | Punjab            |    652 |    666 |    596 |
| 22   | Rajasthan         |   1327 |   1311 |   1479 |
| 23   | Sikkim            |     70 |     55 |     92 |
| 24   | Tamil Nadu        |   1065 |   1544 |   1583 |
| 25   | Telangana         |    924 |   1394 |   1158 |
| 26   | Tripura           |    245 |    133 |    156 |
| 27   | Uttar Pradesh     |   8009 |   4541 |   4954 |
| 28   | Uttarakhand       |    189 |    168 |    218 |
| 29   | West Bengal       |   1291 |   1504 |   2132 |
|      | TOTAL STATE(S)    |  32103 |  32398 |  34223 |
| 30   | A & N Islands     |     29 |     39 |     49 |
| 31   | Chandigarh        |     49 |     62 |     51 |
| 32   | D&N Haveli        |      2 |     15 |     11 |
| 33   | Daman& Diu        |      1 |      5 |     10 |
| 34   | Delhi UT          |   2240 |   1936 |   1620 |
| 35   | Lakshadweep       |      1 |      1 |      5 |
| 36   | Puducherry        |     24 |     49 |     53 |
|      | TOTAL UT(S)       |   2346 |   2107 |   1799 |
|      | TOTAL (ALL INDIA) |  34449 |  34505 |  36022 |

Source: Crime in India