Lok Sabha Question No. 231 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-07-21
Subject: Cases under POCSO Act
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Midhun Reddy, Adala Prabhakara Reddy

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 231

TO BE ANSWERED ON 21.07.2023

## CASES UNDER POCSO ACT

- 231:   SHRI P.V. MIDHUN REDDY:

SHRI ADALA PRABHAKARA REDDY:

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

- (a) whether  the  cases  registered  under  the  Protection  of  Children  from  Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act are increasing in the country;
- (b) if so, the number of cases filed in the last three years, State-wise;
- (c) the reasons for the increasing incidences of POCSO cases in the country; and
- (d) the  measures  being  taken  by  the  Government  to  prevent  crimes  against children?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) & (b): As per the data received from National Crime Records Bureau, State/UTwise  State/UT-wise  Cases  Registered(CR),  Cases  Chargesheeted(CCS),  Cases Convicted(CON), Persons Arrested(PAR), Persons Chargesheeted(PCS) and Persons Convicted(PCV) under Total Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act during 2019-2021 is at Annexure-I.
- (c)  &  (d):    The  Government  of  India  has  enacted  the  Protection  of  Children  from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 to provide safeguards for children against sexual abuse. The act defines a child as any person below the age of 18 years. The POCSO Act 2012 provides for establishment of Special Courts for the purpose of ensuring speedy trial. The Act was amended in 2019 to introduce more stringent punishment including death penalty for committing sexual crimes on children, with a view to deter the perpetrators & prevent such crimes against children POCSO Act also prescribes provisions of mandatory report of crime under POCSO Act, as per Section-21 which provides punishment for failure to report or record a case.-
1.   Any person, who fails to report the commission of an offence under subsection (1) of section 19 or section 20 or who fails to record such offence under sub-section (2) of section 19 shall be punished with imprisonment of either description which may extend to six months or with fine or with both.

2. Any  person,  being  in-charge  of  any  company  or  an  institution  (by whatever name called) who fails to report the commission of an offence under sub-section (1) of section 19 in respect of a subordinate under his control, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year and with fine.

3. The provisions of sub-section (1) shall not apply to a child under this Act In  furtherance  to  the  Criminal  law  (Amendment)  Act,  2018,  Department  of Justice has started a Centrally Sponsored Scheme in October, 2019 for setting up  of  a  total  of  1023  Fast   Track  Special  Courts  (FTSCs)  (including  389 exclusive POCSO Courts) across the country.

The Scheme was initiated for expeditious trial and disposal of pending cases pertaining to Rape and POCSO Act, 2012, in a time-bound manner. As on 31.05.2023, a total of 758 FTSCs including 412 exclusive POCSO (ePOCSO) Courts are functional in 29 States/UTs across the country. As per data provided by the High Courts up to May, 2023, total 169342 cases have been disposed of by these courts since inception of the Scheme.

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| SL    | State/UT                    | 2019       | 2019       | 2019    | 2019       | 2019       | 2019    | 2020        | 2020        | 2020   | 2020     | 2020              |            |         |        |            |           |         |
|-------|-----------------------------|------------|------------|---------|------------|------------|---------|-------------|-------------|--------|----------|-------------------|------------|---------|--------|------------|-----------|---------|
| SL    | State/UT                    | CR         | CCS        | CON     | PAR        | PCS        | PCV     | CR          | CCS         | CON    | PAR      | PCS PCV           | CR         | CCS     | CON    | 2021 PAR   | PCS       | PCV     |
| 1     | Andhra Pradesh              | 502        | 313        | 16      | 645        | 589        | 20      | 454         | 521 18      | 536    | 793      | 19                | 466        | 535     | 8      | 716        | 682       | 8       |
| 2     | Arunachal Pradesh           | 36         | 24         | 0       | 40         | 27         | 0       | 28          | 18 0        | 34     | 26       | 0                 | 23         | 32      | 6      | 39         | 36        | 6       |
| 3     | Assam                       | 1779       | 1396       | 83      | 1890       | 1548       | 84      | 1496        | 1340 43     | 2327   | 1610     | 43                | 1926       | 1723    | 73     | 2686       | 2040      | 77      |
| 4     | Bihar                       | 1540       | 1184       | 113     | 1837       | 1532       | 132     | 1591 1350   | 41          | 1700   | 1533     | 46                | 1571       | 1564    | 208    | 1737       | 1767      | 236     |
| 5     | Chhattisgarh                | 2027       | 2073       | 349     | 2513       | 2453       | 414     | 2049        | 2038 218    | 2459   | 2417     | 245               | 2332       | 2323    | 274    | 2783       | 2755      | 319     |
| 6     | Goa                         | 0          | 0          | 0       | 0          | 0          | 0       | 5           | 5 0         | 5      | 5        | 0                 | 2          | 1       | 0      | 0          | 1         | 0       |
| 7     | Gujarat                     | 2253       | 2072       | 74      | 2773       | 2748       | 89      | 2345 2272   | 23          | 2985   | 2959     | 27                | 2443       | 2390    | 71     | 2978       | 2971      | 79      |
| 8     | Haryana                     | 2074       | 1686       | 333     | 2189       | 2135       | 395     | 1853        | 1506 56     | 1928   | 1900     | 67                | 2249       | 1683    | 205    | 2311       | 2192      | 238     |
| 9     | Himachal Pradesh            | 12         | 8          | 0       | 7          | 9          | 0       | 5           | 9 0         | 11     | 14       | 0                 | 13         | 10      | 2      | 20         | 18        | 2       |
| 10    | Jharkhand                   | 654        | 459        | 100     | 638        | 530        | 104     | 938         | 582 137     | 723    | 673      | 152               | 806        | 637     | 107    | 689        | 736       | 119     |
| 11    | Karnataka                   | 2160       | 2021       | 190     | 2665       | 2633       | 208     | 2104 2016   | 61          | 2527   | 2507     | 69                | 2813       | 2774    | 249    | 3686       | 3463      | 259     |
| 12    | Kerala                      | 1283       | 1009       | 40      | 1443       | 1097       | 42      | 2163        | 1522 41     | 2303   | 1720     | 41                | 2647       | 2752    | 140    | 3281       | 3065      | 151     |
| 13    | Madhya Pradesh              | 6123       | 5867       | 874     | 7376       | 7454       | 1086    | 5648 5558   | 482         | 6989   | 6964     | 568               | 6070       | 5848    | 914    | 7068       | 7441      | 1120    |
| 14    | Maharashtra                 | 6558       | 6295       | 706     | 8723       | 7510       | 792     | 5687 5750   | 308         | 7596   | 6956     | 354               | 6200       | 6443    | 527    | 8290       | 7395      | 598     |
| 15    | Manipur                     | 58         | 59         | 5       | 59         | 74         | 5       | 75          | 53 1        | 72     | 55       | 1                 | 97         | 74      | 7      | 105        | 103       | 7       |
| 16    | Meghalaya                   | 219        | 255        | 96      | 309        | 287        | 96      | 328         | 259 48      | 347    | 304      | 55                | 384        | 366     | 48     | 422        | 369       | 48      |
| 17    | Mizoram                     | 79         | 78         | 59      | 79         | 79         | 63      | 105         | 100 44      | 108    | 104      | 44                | 104        | 97      | 23     | 99         | 98        | 26      |
| 18    | Nagaland                    | 12         | 12         | 1       | 14         | 13         | 1       | 18          | 15 6        | 23     | 17       | 6                 | 31         | 30      | 4      | 39         | 36        | 4       |
| 19    | Odisha                      | 2036       | 1779       | 33      | 2033       | 2124       | 33      | 2202        | 2086 35     | 2379   | 2541     | 37                | 2498       | 2360    | 56     | 2647       | 2778      | 57      |
| 20    | Punjab                      | 389        | 319        | 87      | 484        | 375        | 121     | 720         | 684 51      | 828    | 829      | 70                | 751        | 710     | 105    | 867        | 837       | 142     |
| 21    | Rajasthan                   | 596        | 423        | 178     | 548        | 543        | 216     | 244         | 161 302     | 211    | 209      | 371               | 601        | 397     | 85     | 526        | 518       | 117     |
| 22    | Sikkim                      | 91         | 88         | 12      | 95         | 94         | 12      | 98          | 86 11       | 102    | 91       | 11                | 100        | 102     | 19     | 111        | 109       | 19      |
| 23    | Tamil Nadu                  | 2396       | 2228       | 286     | 3045       | 2553       | 318     | 3090        | 2472 176    | 3795   | 2840     | 260               | 4465       | 3373    | 226    | 5541       | 4046      | 258     |
| 24    | Telangana                   | 1998       | 1724       | 89      | 2549       | 2139       | 108     | 2074 2053   | 102         | 2789   | 2471     | 120               | 2698       | 2468    | 96     | 3138       | 2842      | 100     |
| 25    | Tripura                     | 176        | 173        | 34      | 193        | 183        | 40      | 143         | 143 11      | 181    | 193      | 11                | 125        | 135     | 19     | 166        | 176       | 21      |
| 26    | Uttar Pradesh               | 7594       | 6478       | 1002    | 9650       | 9377       | 1674    | 6898        | 6817 1276   | 10248  | 9882     | 1708              | 7129       | 6881    | 1514   | 10468      | 9882      | 1958    |
| 27    | Uttarakhand                 | 369        | 384        | 92      | 452        | 451        | 111     | 573         | 616 35      | 675    | 674      | 39                | 712        | 672     | 42     | 801        | 819       | 42      |
| 28    | West Bengal                 | 2256       | 2531       | 81      |            | 3292       |         | 2657 2621   | 29          | 2568   | 3003     | 30                | 2607       | 2640    | 68     | 2778       | 3303      |         |
|       | TOTAL STATE(S)              | 45270      | 40938      |         | 2530 54779 | 51849      | 98 6262 | 45591 42653 | 3555        | 56449  | 53290    | 4394              | 51863      | 49020   | 5096   |            |           | 69      |
| 29    | A&N Islands                 | 94         | 87         | 4933 3  | 99         | 95         | 3       | 118         | 124 11      | 116    | 137      | 11                | 108        | 107     | 13     | 63992 117  | 60478 131 | 6080 15 |
| 30    |                             |            |            | 0       | 5          | 6          |         |             | 1           | 0      | 2        | 0                 | 1          | 0       | 2      |            | 0         |         |
| 31    | Chandigarh                  | 5          | 6          |         |            |            | 0       | 0           | 0           | 56     | 51       |                   |            |         |        | 0          |           | 2       |
| 32    | D&N Haveli and Daman& Delhi | 54 1719    | 54         | 0 718   | 62 2269    | 56         | 0 720   | 42          | 43 2 72     |        |          | 2                 | 53 1454    | 50 1579 | 2 42   |            | 61 57     | 2       |
|       |                             |            | 1589       |         |            | 1924       |         | 1197        | 1667        | 1994   | 1927     | 87                |            |         |        | 1952       | 1895      | 50      |
| 33    | Jammu & Kashmir*            | 109        | 79         | 0       | 101        | 98         | 0       | 200         | 153         | 2      | 235      | 230 4             | 294        | 251     | 1      | 343        | 333       | 1       |
| 34    | Ladakh                      | -          | -          | -       | -          | -          | -       | 0           | 0           | 0      | 0 0      | 0                 | 0          | 0       | 0      | 0          | 0         | 0       |
|       | Lakshadweep                 |            |            |         | 27         |            | 0       | 8           | 6           | 2 11   | 6        |                   |            | 19      | 0      | 31         | 21        | 0       |
| 35 36 | Puducherry TOTAL UT(S)      | 25 48 2054 | 11 45 1871 | 0 4 725 | 74 2637    | 13 74 2266 | 4 727   | 65 1630     | 62 2056 131 | 42     | 141 2553 | 2 120 42 2473 148 | 14 87 2011 | 2109    | 103 60 | 0 169 2673 | 111 2548  | 0 70    |