Set up exclusive courts within 60 days, speed up all trials: Supreme Court orders on child rape cases

In major ruling that will impact the ongoing investigations in connection with the child rapes in India, the Supreme Court ordered the setting up of the special designated courts on Thursday. The top court said that these special courts will be trying the POCSO cases exclusively in each district where number of such pending cases is more than 100. These Courts will have to be set up within a period of 60 days and funded by the Centre. The Supreme Court also ordered the Centre to appoint sensitised prosecutors to deal with sexual assault cases against child. Additionally, the top court directed the chief secretaries of states, Union Territories to ensure timely submission of forensic reports in sexual assault cases against child. The apex court has given the Centre 30 days to apprise it about compliance of its order on exclusive courts to deal with assault cases against children.

According to the NCRB numbers, in 2015, 10,854 cases of rape under Section 376 of the IPC and under Sections 4 and 6 of the Protection of Children against Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act were registered. 2016 saw the rise in cases as 19,765 of such cases were registered. The bureau records show that Madhya Pradesh (2,467), Maharashtra (2,292), Uttar Pradesh (2,115), Odisha (1,258) and Tamil Nadu (1,169) are among the state where crime against children especially child-rape is on a rise.