A Study of POCSO Act and Crime against Children

with reference to Jharkhand during COVID

pandemic year 2020

______________________________________________

Submitted by:
Nimisha Sinha,
Assistant Professor,
Faculty of Legal Studies,
Usha Martin University, Ranchi
___________________________________________________________

ABSTRACT:

The Pandemic brought a sea change in our behavior and thought process.
It had a psychological impact on us. We were not ready for such
emergencies nor we were trained for the same to cop up with our socio,
psychological and financial resources. Children are the soft targets of
crimes. They are unaware of many things that can be categorized as
offences towards them. POCSO Act was a major breakthrough in the
fight against crime towards children. UNICEF and other world agencies
are very serious towards these heinous crimes. Time to time they come up
with various suggestions to make our children safe and free from
exploitation. Law enforcement agencies have greater role along with
Parents to control these offences.

Keyword: POCSO, Crime against Children, Pandemic, Law

Enforcement, Known Offenders

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INTRODUCTION

Crime and Violence against women and children are common in any
society. They are the vulnerable section of the society and they need
protection. Most gruesome acts of Human Right abuses are done towards
them. It impacts their psychological well-being. Welfare government of
our time have Women and Children safety, as a priority on their agenda.
They are safeguarded by the government machinery through means of
laws made, from time to time. Children are unable to express about the
crimes or act of violence they face. They are so innocent that they do not
understand that what all acts come under the category of crimes.

Every Government, worldwide took violence against children very

seriously. UNICEF came with a list of directions that every government
must include in their policies made towards safeguarding children. Motto
of UNICEF is “Every child has the right to live free from violence,
exploitation and abuse1”. So, to keep children away from violence and
exploitation, Government of India came up with Protection of Children
from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) in year 2012. It was a landmark act
in every sense which provided violence free, abuse free and exploitation
free
Features of POCSO Act, 20122

The POCSO Act, 2012 is a comprehensive provision of law to safeguard

children from various offences including molestation, pornography,
sexual assault covering penetrative and non- penetrative assault while
ensuring that the child is made to feel comfortable throughout the judicial
process by providing child centric and friendly environment for reporting

1
https://www.unicef.org/child-protection

2
https://lawyersgyan.com/
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of crime, recording of evidence, investigation of the crime and setting up
special courts for speedy trials.

Under the Act, a child means anyone under the age of 18 years and
defines the different kind of offences covered under the Act. The Act
covers the offences committed by the close ones of the child like a
relative, uncle, cousins etc., a teacher, a policeman, a helper or a doctor.
The Act prescribes stringent punishment for the wrongdoers which is
rigorous imprisonment for maximum period and fine.

COVID 19 and Children

Census 2011 indicates that the rural child population in India is
11,75,85,514 which is 74.05% to the total child population of the country
i.e. 15,87,89,287. At the same time, urban child population comprises of
4,12,03,773 which is 25.95% to the total child population of the country3.
The recent pandemic created a kind of havoc in our society. The
uncertainty regarding every aspect of human life brought hopelessness
among masses. The unknown future, loss of job, threat to life due to virus
and economic crisis created a kind of frustration which generated anger
and this anger led to violence against children and women. They were the
easy and soft target of violators. Children were and are to this date
vulnerable to various variant of corona virus. This virus equally affected
every section of the society but children faced the burnt doubly.

Objective of the Study:

3
https://www.censusindia.gov.in/
3
  To examine the role of COVID towards increase in offences
towards children in 2020
 To analyze the situation of violence against Girl child during
Pandemic year
 To examine POCSO Act towards safeguarding children
 To examine the total crimes against children in recent years i.e.,
2018 to 2020

Hypothesis:

 There was an overall increase in violence against children in

2020
 Girl child reported more crimes towards them during 2020
 Most of the act of violence was done by close relatives

Methodology of Study:

The study was conducted mainly based on Secondary data. We gathered

data from the Reports of National Crime Record Bureau of India,
National Commission for Protection of Child Rights and Jharkhand
Police. We went through few notable research articles on the topic and
took help in our article.

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State Profile:

Jharkhand is 28th state of India with significant tribal population. It has a

total population of 3.3 crores (MALE:16,930,315; FEMALE: 16,057,819.
It has a literacy rate of 76% (Male:84.2% & Female:67.44%). It has a
Total Child Population (0-6 Age) of 5,389,495 (Male: 2,767,147 &
Female: 2,622,348)4.

Data Analysis:

Table 1: Data for Crime Against Children from National Crime

Record Bureau (NCRB) for State Jharkhand for 3 years:

S.no. State 2018 2019 2020

1 Jharkhand 1479 1674 1795

Graph 1:

TOTAL CASES
1800
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
2018 2019 2020

TOTAL CASES OF CRIME

Conclusion 1

4
https://www.censusindia.gov.in/
5
Above Data from Table 1 and Corresponding Graph 1 clearly shows that
every year number of crimes are increasing in Jharkhand. Year 2020 was
the starting point of COVID-19; hence we can say that number of cases
of crimes against children, reported in COVID year was more.

Table 2: Age Profile of Female Child Victims under POCSO Act in

Jharkhand IN 2020
NOTE: ONLY CASES AGAINST FEMALE CHILD WAS REPORTED

S. N State Victims Below 6 Victims Victims

years between 6-12 between 12-16
years years

1 Jharkhand 0 21 195

Graph 2:

TOTAL CASES
200
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
0 to 6 6 to 12 12 to 16

No of Female Victims

Conclusion 2

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Table 2 and Graph 2 clearly state that in year total crime against children
under POCSO act was reported for Female Child only. No cases against
Male child were reported. The increasing trend of crime can be seen with
increasing age in Jharkhand. So, we can say that in pandemic year of
2020 mostly girl child faced the violence or crime under POCSO Act.

Table 3: Offender Relation to Child Victims of POCSO Act in 2020

S.N State Cases where Offenders were Cases where

o Known Offenders were
Unknown

1 Jharkhand 648 33

Graph 3 corresponding to Table 3

TOTAL CASES
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
Unknown to Known to
Victims Victims

Total Cases

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Table 4: Breakup of Cases where offender was known from Table 3

S.no Family Family Online Friends

Members Friends/Neighbors

1 26 394 228

Graph 4 corresponding to Table 4

No of Crimes

Family Members Family friend/Neighbor Online Friends

Conclusion 3
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Based on Table 3 and Graph 3, we can say that the greatest number of
crimes against children were done by known acquaintances.

Conclusion 4

Based on Table 4 and Pie diagram we can see the breakup analysis of
Known Offenders. Out of Total cases in Known Offender crime, crime
through Family friend/Neighbor (61%) was more than Online Friend
mode (35%) than Family members.

Table 5: Police disposal of total cases in 2020 for Jharkhand

S.No Total No of cases in Total no of cases Cases Pending

. year 2020 disposed of by police Investigation
in 2020

1 3195 1458 1737

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Graph 5 corresponding to Table 5

Chart Title

3500

3000

2500

2000

1500

1000

500

0
2020

PENDING INVESTIGATION TOTAL DISPOSED Column1

Conclusion 5

From analysis of Table 5 and Graph 5 we can say that law enforcement
agency i.e. police has done its work but more number of cases are left
uninvestigated.

Overall Analysis and Conclusion

From above analysis we can see that we have achieved our Objective and
Our hypothesis is being proved from Tables and Graphs.

In our society, the children are the major victims. But in year 2020, the
situation generated by COVID, brought more offences towards them. A
feeling of helpless ness among general mass in this time forced them to
bring more anger towards children. Though in general times Substance
Abuse was one of the major reasons of crime against children. But the

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situation generated by pandemic was the important reason for increasing
crimes.

Suggestions

 Law Enforcement Agencies must be sensitive towards Children

 Training of Parents and Children must be taken on a Priority Basis
 POCSO Act must be implemented in a strict manner
 More Punishment to law enforcement agencies must be given if
found to be neglecting cases
 Schools, Teachers and Social helpers must be sensitized towards
children
 Parents must be encouraged to report cases of violence and abuse
 Increased role of NGOs must be ensured

References:

 www.jhpolice.gov.in
 www.ncrb.gov.in

 www.censusindia.gov.in/

 The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO),

2012’ in Clinical Settings by Aloka J, Manoj Kumar T and
Vasudevan VTN

 Internet Access and Sexual Offences against Children: An Analysis

by Shiak Subahani and Rajkumar Ravi

 https://www.unicef.org/child-protection

 Psycho-social impact of COVID-19 pandemic on children in India:

The reality by Hitanshu Dave and Priyanka Yagnik

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