One of the new courts to come up in Ranga Reddy district will concentrate on clearing pending cases under POCSO Act. Another court in Hyderabad has 185 pending cases under the Act.
Hyderabad: The Telangana government has sanctioned two special courts for trial and disposal of cases booked under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
The Finance Department of the state will soon issue orders regarding staff needed and expenditure details to set up the same. Immediate actions in this regard will be taken by The Registrar (Administration) of High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad, for Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Out of two courts, one will be set up at Ranga Reddy District in LB Nagar and the second one will be situated in Hyderabad.
According to National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) statistics, the conviction rate in POCSO cases which was 15.1% in 2014, reduced to 9.5% indicating a significant drop. India has 620 courts to deal with cases registered under POCSO Act. Out of these only 10 courts function in Telangana.
However, a child-friendly court at Bharosa Centre, Saifabad was inaugurated in August 2016 to hear POCSO Act cases.
Currently, this court works twice a week and as there are plenty of cases under this section, there is a delay in awarding verdict. Thus, most people are forced to settle the case out of court as they can't spend years running to attend court proceedings. This might result in the victim having to unnecessarily compromise and end up without justice being served.
Speedy trial can be expected only when the child friendly court is upgraded as a special court and has adequate staff. In this case the victim can be assured of justice within 50 days of the beginning of the trial.
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