Lok Sabha Question No. 4148 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-12-13
Subject: Protection of Children from Sexual Offence
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Chandra Sekhar Bellana

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UN STARRED QUESTION NO.4148

TO BE ANSWERED ON 13.12.2019

## PROTECTION OF CHILDREN FROM SEXUAL OFFENCE

## 4148.   SHRI CHANDRA SEKHAR BELLANA:

Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Protection  of  Children  from  Sexual  Offence  (POCSO)  Act  was amended earlier  with  provision  for  stringent  punishment    for    possession    and transmission of child pornography;
- (b) if so, the details thereof along with the number of persons who have been booked and charged for the said offence; and
- (c) the steps taken by the Government to implement POCSO Act in letter and spirit?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

(a) & (b) The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act, 2019 has been notified on 06.08.2019 and made  effective from 16.08.2019. Section 15 (Punishment for storage of pornographic material involving child) has been amended as below:

Section 15 (1): Any person,  who  stores  or  possesses  pornographic  material  in  any form involving a child, but fails to delete or destroy or report the same to the designated authority, as may  be  prescribed, with an intention to share or transmit child pornography, shall  be  liable  to  fine  not  less  than  five  thousand  rupees,  and  in the  event  of second or subsequent offence, with fine which shall not be less than ten thousand rupees.

Section 15(2): Any person, who stores or possesses pornographic material in any form involving  a  child  for  transmitting  or  propagating  or  displaying  or  distributing  in  any manner at any time except for the purpose of reporting, as may be prescribed, or for use  as  evidence  in  court,  shall  be  punished  with  imprisonment  of  either  description which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.

Section 15(3): Any person, who  stores or possesses pornographic material in any  form involving a child for commercial purpose shall be punished on the first conviction  with imprisonment of either description which shall not be less than three years which  may extend to five years, or with fine, or with both, and in the event of second or  subsequent conviction,  with  imprisonment  of  either  description  which  shall  not  be  less  than  five years which may extend to seven years and shall also be liable to fine.

The  details  of  the  number  of  persons  who  have  been  booked  and  charged  for  the offence of Child Pornography during 2015-2017 is at Annexure-I .

(c)    The  National  Commission  for  Protection  of  Child  Rights  (NCPCR)  and  State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCRs) are mandated under Section 44 of POCSO Act to monitor the implementation of the POCSO Act. Further Section 43 of the POCSO Act provides that the Central Government and every State Government shall take all measures to give wide publicity to the provisions of the Act. In accordance with this, the Government has taken various steps from time to time to create awareness of the  provisions  of  the  POCSO  Act  through  electronic  and  print  media,  consultations, workshops and training programmes with stakeholders concerned. In order to generate awareness about the POCSO Act, a short clip (duration 45 secs) on POCSO Act was disseminated in Cinema Halls and Doordarshan across the nation from 02.10.2019 to 08.10.2019. Hon'ble Minister, Women and Child Development (WCD) has written to all the Chief Ministers, Members of Parliament, and Heads of local Bodies/Panchayati Raj Institutions  to  take  note  of  the  POCSO  Act  as  amended,  and  take  all  necessary measures for its effective implementation. Secretary, WCD has also written a letter to this effect to all the Secretaries of line Ministries.

'Police'  and  'Public  Order'  are  State  subjects  under  the  Seventh  Schedule  to  the Constitution of India. The responsibility to maintain law and order, protection of life and property  of  the  citizens  including  children,  rest  primarily  with  the  respective  State Governments and UT Administration.

- *********

## ANNEXURE-I

Statement Referred To In Part (b) of Reply To Lok Sabha Un-Starred Question No.4148  For Answer On 13.12.2019 Raised By SHRI CHANDRA SEKHAR BELLANA 'Protection Of Children From Sexual Offence' indicating Cases Registered (CR), Cases Chargesheeted (CS), Cases Convicted (CV), Persons Arrested (PAR), Persons Chargesheeted (PCS) and Persons Convicted (PCV) for usage of children for pornographic purpose and storage of pornographic material of children under POCSO Act

|                    |              | 2015   | 2015   | 2015   | 2015   | 2015   | 2016   | 2016   | 2016   | 2016   | 2016   | 2016   | 2016   |     |    |        |     |     |
|--------------------|--------------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|-----|----|--------|-----|-----|
| SL State/UT        |              | CR     | CS     | CV     | PAR    | PCS    | PCV    | CR     | CS     | CV     | PAR    | PCS    | PCV    | CR  | CS | CV PAR | PCS | PCV |
| 1 Andhra           | Pradesh      | 11     | 4      | 0      | 4      | 4      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0   | 0  | 0 0    | 0   | 0   |
| 2 Arunachal        | Pradesh      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0   | 0  | 0 0    | 0   | 0   |
| 3                  | Assam        | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 3   | 2  | 0 3    | 2   | 0   |
| 4                  | Bihar        | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 26  | 5  | 0 27   | 7   | 0   |
| 5                  | Chhattisgarh | 26     | 24     | 0      | 26     | 24     | 0      | 1      | 3      | 0      | 1      | 3      | 0      | 6   | 6  | 3 7    | 7   | 3   |
| 6                  | Goa          | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0   | 0  | 0 0    | 0   | 0   |
| 7                  | Gujarat      | 1      | 2      | 0      | 1      | 2      | 0      | 1      | 1      | 0      | 2      | 2      | 0      | 1   | 1  | 0 1    | 1   | 0   |
| 8                  | Haryana      | 3      | 1      | 0      | 1      | 1      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 2   | 1  | 0 1    | 1   | 0   |
| 9 Himachal Pradesh |              | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0   | 5  | 0 5    | 5   | 0   |
| 10 Jammu & Kashmir |              | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0   | 0  | 0 0    | 0   | 0   |
| 11                 | Jharkhand    | 17     | 17     | 17     | 17     | 17     | 17     | 19     | 8      | 0      | 18     | 8      | 0      | 24  | 8  | 2 17   | 17  | 2   |
| 12                 | Karnataka    | 7      | 4      | 0      | 7      | 4      | 0      | 3      | 4      | 0      | 4      | 6      | 0      | 47  | 38 | 3 72   | 54  | 4   |
| 13                 | Kerala       | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 4      | 1      | 0      | 4      | 1      | 0      | 109 | 76 | 10 166 | 72  | 10  |
| 14 Madhya          | Pradesh      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 8   | 6  | 0 11   | 11  | 0   |
| 15 Maharashtra     |              | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 1      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 9   | 11 | 0 14   | 13  | 0   |
| 16                 | Manipur      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0   | 0  | 0 0    | 0   | 0   |
| 17                 | Meghalaya    | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0   | 0  | 0 0    | 0   | 0   |
| 18                 | Mizoram      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 0      | 1      | 1      | 1      | 1      | 1      | 1      | 0   | 0  | 0 0    | 0   | 0   |
|                    |              |        |        | 0      |        |        |        | 0      |        |        |        |        |        | 0   | 0  | 0      | 0   | 0   |
| 19                 | Nagaland     | 1      | 0      |        | 1      | 0      | 0      |        | 1      | 0      | 0      | 1      | 0      |     |    | 0      |     |     |

| 20         | Odisha         |   1 |   1 |   0 |   1 |   1 |   0 |   1 |   1 |   0 |   1 |   1 |   0 |   8 |   22 | 3   | 22   |   22 | 3    |
|------------|----------------|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|------|-----|------|------|------|
| 21         | Punjab         |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   1 |   0 |   0 |  32 |   36 | 0   | 32   |   45 | 0    |
| 22         | Rajasthan      |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   3 |   2 |   0 |   2 |   2 |   0 |  84 |   64 | 1   | 84   |   84 | 2    |
| 23         | Sikkim         |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |    0 | 0   | 0    |    0 | 0    |
| 24         | Tamil Nadu     |   8 |  10 |   0 |   8 |  10 |   0 |   9 |   4 |   0 |   9 |   4 |   0 |   8 |    8 | 1   | 13   |   16 | 1    |
| 25         | Telangana      |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   1 |    1 | 0   | 5    |    1 | 0    |
| 26         | Tripura        |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |    0 | 0   | 0    |    0 | 0    |
| 27         | Uttar Pradesh  |  19 |  19 |   3 |  36 |  32 |   6 |   2 |   2 |   1 |   4 |   4 |   1 |   4 |    1 | 4   | 4    |    4 | 11   |
| 28         | Uttarakhand    |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |    0 | 0   | 0    |    0 | 0    |
| 29         | West Bengal    |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   2 |   5 |   0 |  18 |  18 |   0 |   2 |   12 | 0   | 1    |   12 | 0    |
|            | TOTAL STATE(S) |  94 |  82 |  20 | 102 |  95 |  23 |  47 |  33 |   2 |  65 |  51 |   2 | 374 |  303 | 27  | 485  |  374 | 36   |
| 30         | A&N Islands    |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |    0 | 0   | 0    |    0 | 0    |
| 31         | Chandigarh     |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |    0 | 0   | 0    |    0 | 0    |
| 32         | D&N Haveli     |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |    0 | 0 0 |      |    0 | 0    |
| 33         | Daman & Diu    |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |    0 | 0   | 0    |    0 | 0    |
| 34         | Delhi          |   0 |   0 |   0 |   5 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |    0 | 0   | 0    |    0 | 0    |
| 35         | Lakshadweep    |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |    0 | 0   | 0    |    0 | 0    |
| 36         | Puducherry     |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |    0 | 0   | 0    |    0 | 0    |
|            | TOTAL UT(S)    |   0 |   0 |   0 |   5 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |    0 | 0   | 0    |    0 | 0 36 |
| TOTAL (ALL | INDIA)         |  94 |  82 |  20 | 107 |  95 |  23 |  47 |  33 |   2 |  65 |  51 |   2 | 374 |  303 | 27  | 485  |  374 |      |

Source: Crime in India