‘Govt has failed to popularise amended POCSO Act’

Syed Ali Ahmed

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 11

Condemning the rape incident of a Class II student of a government school in the New Delhi Municipal Council area, mahila wing president of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) Sharmishtha Mukherjee said that Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Amended Act recommended death sentence for the accused involved in the rape cases of girls below 12 years of age.

The Act also recommends that case should be heard in fast-track court, said Mukherjee holding the government responsible for the rape case reported on Wednesday. But people are not aware of the legal knowledge. The government is doing nothing to popularise the law.

The Delhi State Commission for Protection of Child Rights is also not taking any step for protection of children, she said.

Had the government installed the CCTV cameras in the school, the grievous incident could have been averted. According to a figure given by the Delhi Police from January to April 2018 a total number of 282 rape cases of minor girls have been reported, she said.

Mukherjee said that previous year within the same period 278 rape cases of minor girls were reported that showed this kind of heinous crime was on rise.

The Kejriwal-led Delhi government and the BJP-led Union government is involved only in blame game instead of getting a solution. The Delhi Police come under the Centre, she said.

She said that there should be “social auditing” of all the government schools, especially the girl schools. 

The sexual abuse of girls in Muzaffarpur in Bihar came to light during auditing done by Tata Institute of Social Sciences. She also said that character verification must be done before a man is appointed in government departments.