Pune Over 2,000 cases of sexual abuse of children were still pending with the Pune district court till December 2018, revealed a Right To Information (RTI) Act query. Across the State, there are 18,000 cases pending of offences under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Pune-based activist Vihar Durve, who obtained the details, said, “There is shortage of judges in the sessions courts and High Court. There are thousands of cases pending in the courts.
Sanctioned strength of judges has not been implemented by judiciary and State government till date. The Bombay HC has sanctioned strength of 94 judges but only 71 judges are there at present.
He said, “Similar is the situation in different courts of the State. In Pune, there are 2069 cases under POCSO Act, which were pending till December 2018.”
Former Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) member and director of Dnyandevi Childline, Pune, Anuradha Sahasrabudhe said, “At many times, accused or victims aren’t present for hearings in the court. At times, guardians are not present or available to assist the children admitted in juvenile homes.
Investigation officers are either transferred or police say that there is no manpower to look after these cases, etc.” “When I was on board, there was an order passed by the Supreme Court to clear the pending cases following which many cases were put up before the Lok Adalat and cases were disposed of, which isn’t right,” added Sahasrabudhe.
Advocate Anjali Pawar, Director of NGO Sakhee, expressed her disappointment stating that nobody is serious about crimes against children. “The rules of POCSO Act are clearly not followed by court and police. Only few cases where there is media pressure or other pressures, those cases get cleared fast. Even police has its own pace in investigating these cases, ” said Pawar.
Special public prosecutor (for POCSO Act cases) Leena Pathak told Sakal Times, “There are three dedicated courts for cases where the victims are under the age of 12 years. This was done few months back. Then, all other courts have been designated as special courts for conducting trials of POCSO Act cases. Therefore, the number of such courts is about 15-20.”
Commissioner of Police Dr K Venkatesham said, “We have newly started IAC (Investigation Assistance Cell) in crime branch. They will have specialised teams with regards to evidence collection and documentation for crimes against women. Also, there is PAC (Prosecution Assistance Cell), which will be assisting the court in execution of summons and warrants so that trials can be smooth. Speedy investigations and proper documatentation and is being emphasised.”