NEW DELHI: If the shell-shocked family of the east Delhi minor victim can take solace from one fact it is this — the police have slapped Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) on the rape accused Manoj Kumar, apart from the usual sections of IPC.
That's because the Act envisages a six month jail term for any cop found guilty of failure to record a complaint of sexual assault on children and act on it. The distraught family is on record that the police tried to scuttle their complaint, even offered money to hush up the case. In case the charge is established in the special children's court, it may spell trouble for the police officials.
Notified in November last year, POCSO is supposed to ensure the victim and her family get immediate interim compensation apart from other kind of support including legal aid and counselling on a sustained basis.
In a large number of cases involving sexual assault against children, the police are being forced to apply provisions from POCSO, where, depending on the severity of the assault, different categories of punishment are prescribed. Under the Act, Child Welfare Committee can appoint a support person as every case has to be reported to the CWC.
"In Indian law, the biggest lacuna was that other than sexual intercourse, which is punishable under section 376 of the IPC, all other acts of sexual assault were covered under section 354, which is outraging a woman's modesty and a bailable offence. POCSO tries to plug this gap and relies heavily on prevailing laws in the USA and UK. There, punishment for sexual assault varies according to the age of the victim and the age of the perpetrator," explains advocate Shilpi Jain, who represented the German victim in the Bitti Mohanty rape case.
Advocate Anant Asthana, who has been closely involved in fighting cases of sexual exploitation of minors, adds, "Victim families are usually from middle or lower income group and they need money for treatment, court case, meeting the police. It is these obstacles that POCSO tries to streamline. For instance, under this Act, the child victim will be informed about each and everything that happens in the case. The onus is now on the police to update the victim or guardian or the support person regularly."
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