Rajya Sabha Takes Up Private Member's POCSO Amendment Bill Demanding Victim-Centric Reforms
The Rajya Sabha is considering the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill, 2024, which aims to enhance victim-centric reforms.
New Delhi, Feb 7 (PTI) The Rajya Sabha on Friday took up a private member's bill to amend the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act 2012, with members cutting across party lines calling for the need to introduce more "victim-centric" reforms to add more teeth to the legislation and ensure its effective implementation.
Introducing the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Amendment), 2024 Bill for consideration and passage during the private member's legislative business, Fauzia Khan of the NCP-SCP called for severe punishment to sexual predators targeting children.
She pointed out that according to the NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau), POSCO cases increased over 94 per cent in six years since 2017. The number of registered cases increased to well over 2 lakh in May 2024, of which 1.62 lakh were disposed of.
"The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Amendment Bill 2024 aims to address these challenges by introducing victim-centric reforms. The key objectives of this Bill include addressing ambiguities in reporting offences and compensating victims; introducing clear and structured compensation procedures to prevent delays; mandating training for stake-holders, including educational institutions and child care personnel to ensure effective implementation," Khan said.
Under the proposed Bill, police, or the special juvenile police unit, must present the child before the child welfare committee and report the case to the special court -- or the sessions court if the special court is unavailable -- within 24 hours of the reporting of the incident.
This is a significant change as no specific timeline was previously mandated, she said.
The proposed Bill aims to establish a clear and structured procedure to ensure that victims of sexual offences, particularly minors, receive timely compensation without procedural delays or inconsistencies, Khan said.
"This Bill is a significant step towards making the POCSO Act more victim-centric and effective by addressing existing ambiguities. The amendments aim to improve the transparency and effectiveness of the implementation of the Act, proper training for stakeholders combined with a clear compensation and reporting mechanism will ensure that child victims receive the protection, support and justice they deserve," she said.
Speaking on the proposed amendments to the POCSO Act through the Bill, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said in December 2019, the Rajya Sabha took up a discussion on the same issue and then Chairman Venkaiah Naidu had constituted a committee of members to examine the issues of social media, child pornography and online sexual abuse and submit a report.
"On 25 January 2020, this Committee submitted its report titled 'Alarming issue of pornography on social media and its effect on children and society'," Ramesh said.
He said the report comprised five recommendations, including legislative change required in POCSO 2012; technological; and institutional measures needed to combat the issue; and awareness campaigns.
Ramesh urged the minister concerned to examine the report and called for measures apart from those within the scope of POCSO to be taken to address the issue.
Radha Mohan Das Agrawal of the BJP said a large number of child sexual offences are committed within the victim's home by family members and called for awareness regarding the issue, stressing that there is no provision of psycho analysis by the education and private/government service system.
He cited the limitations of the Act in bringing the perpetrators of child sexual offences to justice, and highlighted the psychological manifestation of victims of sexual offences, particularly children.
He called upon the House to contemplate over child sexual offences and appoint a national-level working group to examine the issue in detail.
The bill will be taken up for further discussion and passage at a later specified date.
(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)
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