East Khasi Hills take the lead with the highest number of POCSO Cases instituted at 709 cases

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaFebruary 29, 2024

A brief report on the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) prepared by the Meghalaya Commission for Protection of Child Rights, pointed out that a worrying trend in Meghalaya is child sexual abuse and violations which fall under the POCSO ACT 2012. 

The report stated that one of the reasons for the apparent increase can be attributed to the increase in reporting of such cases as a result of awareness programs conducted by Child Protection Units, Child Rights organizations, local bodies and related Government Departments.

In relation to violations of the POCSO Act 2012, the State Commission of Protection of Child Rights receives monthly/quarterly Reports from the POCSO Courts from all the 11 Districts of the State while the 12th District which is the latest addition submits a combined Report, the Police from all the Districts, and the District Child Protection Officers (DCPU).

Since the inception of the Commission in the year 2014, the Commission has been receiving reports of POCSO violations in the various districts.

In keeping with its mandate to monitor and protect children relating specifically to child sex abuse cases and violations of the POCSO ACT 2012, the Commission is developing a database and research oriented methodologies to address these issues.

Since 2022, the data was digitalized and streamlined under a modified format. However there were factors that impeded the proper entry of Data such as late submission of data, discrepancies (difference in case number), and repetitions and duplication.

To expedite the process of efficiency, verified and reliable data, the Commission is also in the process of creating a portal for collating the data from various sources, with the assistance and expertise of the National Informatics Centre (NIC).

The report maintained that there is an urgent need for consolidating data which is more uniform and may be applied universally as data is usually collected and filed in various agencies and institutions at various stages and in different ways (formats) which may lead to discrepancies and replications in research or errors in data.

The report revealed that the pattern of child sex abuse in Meghalaya, is emerging with greater clarity, that the perpetrator is by those known to the child which can be stepfathers, biological fathers, matemal uncles, paternal kin, siblings, neighbors, boyfriends, friends who are boys. The other pattern is when the perpetrators is not known to the child. 

A look at the data 

The first Case to be registered under the newly designated POCSO Courts was on June 4, 2013 at the East Khasi Hills POCSO Court, and subsequently other POCSO Courts have been established in the other Districts of the State.

At present out of the 12 (Twelve) districts in the State, 11 (Eleven) Districts barring the newly established Eastern West Khasi Hills have POCSO Courts with designated POCSO Judges presiding over these courts.

The report stated, “The total number of cases instituted in these Courts since their inception till the end of the year 2023 has reached a total of 2566 (Two thousand five hundred and Sixty six) cases, out of which a total of 1984 (One thousand nine hundred and eighty four) cases are still pending in the various district Courts. The disposal rate of cases in the state is 22.68%.”

Further, it stated, “However, it may be noted that during the pandemic years the number of cases instituted were highest at 365 in 2020 and 378 in 2021.”

Coming to the District level, the highest number of POCSO Cases registered in the various POCSO Courts of the State depicts that East Khasi Hills has the highest number of POCSO Cases instituted at 709 cases which accounts for 28% of all POCSO cases in the State. The lowest number of POCSO cases instituted in the state is in south Garo Hills which account for only 2% of the total at 64 Cases.

Conviction of cases

When it comes to convictions of cases, it may be pertinent to point out that Ri Bhoi District has the distinction of having the highest number of convictions at 50 followed by West Khasi hills at 31 convictions and closely followed by East Khasi Hills at 30 such convictions. 

The report stated that even though South Garo Hills and South West Garo Hills have 0 (zero) number of convictions, this may be partly due to the fact that there is no Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) appointed in South Garo Hills to try the cases and hence all cases in the district are pending before the Court in this district. 

South West Garo Hills district on the other hand has POCSO Court established in 2017 and has not had a single conviction.

It also noted that the number of convictions have been steadily increasing yearly and the highest number of convictions on an annual basis was in the year 2022 with a total number of 60 convictions followed closely with 31 convictions in 2023.

Acquittals

In the matter of disposal of cases which result in acquittals, the highest number of acquittals among the various district POCSO Courts is East Khasi Hills District with a total of 48 acquittals. The lowest number of acquittals are shared by both North Garo Hills and South West Garo Hills at 3 Acquittal each. The distinction is made here, that even though South Garo hills has 0 (zero) acquittals this is primarily due to the fact that POCSO Cases in the district are pending due to a no SPP in place.

The highest number of acquittal in the State was in the year 2022 with a total number of 62 acquittals.

Pending cases

When it comes to pendency of POCSO cases in the State, the report mentioned that cases instituted since 2013 are still pending in the POCSO Court. The highest number of pending cases in the State were from the year 2021 followed closely in 2022.

Looking at the pendency of cases in the State in a district wise manner, East Khasi Hills has the highest number of pending POCSO cases in the State at 566 cases pending in the POCSO Court of the District. The lowest number of pending cases in the State is East Garo Hills with a total number of 36 cases pending in their POCSO Court.