Question : Provisions relating to Child Abuse

(a) the salient features of the Code of Criminal Procedure(Cr PC) including provisions relating to child abuse across the country;

(b) the time limit for reporting the incidents across the country, State/UT-wise;

(c) whether cases of child abuse have been increasing in the country;

(d) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor, State/UT-wise including West Bengal and Maharashtra;

(e) the action taken/being taken by the Government to curb these incidents;

(f) whether the Ministry of Women and Child Development has proposed to this Ministry for removal of the time limit for reporting the incidents; and

(g) if so, the details thereof and the action taken by the Government in this regard?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS
(SHRI HANSRAJ GANGARAM AHIR)
(a) to (e): The Union Government has enacted the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018 and following amendments have been made in the Code of Criminal Procedure(Cr PC), 1973 relating to sexual assault including child abuse:

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(i) Amendment in section 173 to provide that investigation in relation to rape shall be completed within two months,
(ii) Amendment in section 374 to provide that an appeal filed against conviction or acquittal in cases filed under section 376, 376A, 376AB, 376B, 376C, 376D, 376DA, 376DB or 376E of Indian Penal Code (IPC) has to be disposed of within a period of six months from the date of filing of such appeal.
(iii) Amendment in section 438 to do away with the anticipatory bail for persons accused of rape or gang rape of women under 16/12 years of age.
(iv) Amendment in section 439 to add a new proviso that the High Court or Court of Session shall, before granting bail to a person who is accused of an offence triable under sub-section (3) of section 376, 376AB, 376DA, 376DB of IPC give notice of the application for bail to Public Prosecutor within fifteen days from the date of receipt of the notice of such application. Section 439 also provides that the presence of any person authorised by victim shall be obligatory at the time of hearing of bail application of the accused.
Further, section 468 of CrPC prescribes the time period (limitation) for taking cognizance of various offences i.e. six months if the offence is punishable with fine only; one year, if the offence is punishable with imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year; and, three years if the


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offence is punishable with imprisonment for term exceeding one year but not exceeding three years.
There is no period of limitation for offences which are punishable with imprisonment exceeding three years or which are punishable with death penalty. Further Section 473 of Cr.P.C. lays down that any Court may take cognizance of an offence after the expiry of the period of limitation, if it satisfied on the facts and in the circumstances of the case that the delay has been properly explained or that it is necessary to do so in the interests of justice.
As per the latest information published by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), details of State/UT-wise (including West Bengal and Maharashtra) cases registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, read with other sections of Indian Penal Code during 2014-2016 are given in Annexure-I.
‘Police’ and ‘Public Order’ are State subjects under the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India. The responsibilities to maintain law and order, protection of life and property of the citizens rest primarily with the respective State Governments. The State Governments are competent to deal with such offences under the extant provisions of laws.
The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018, provides for enhanced punishment for crimes such as rape including provision of death penalty for


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the offence of rape on women below 12 years; completion of investigation, filing of charge sheet and trial in rape cases in 2 months and appeals against conviction or acquittal to be disposed of within 6 months. The other steps taken in this regard include modernization and capacity building of forensic labs for faciliting timely investigation, development of a National Database on Sexual Offenders to facilitate investigation and tracking of Sexual Offenders across the country, a project for developing an Emergency Response Support System based on a Pan-India 24x7 Helpline Number 112 and a scheme for setting up One Stop Centre in every district across the country.
Ministry of Home Affairs has also issued Advisories dated 14.07.2010 on “Crime against Children” and dated 25.06.2013 on “Hon’ble Supreme Court’s direction to file FIR in case of Missing Children”. These advisories are available on www.mha.gov.in.
In addition, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has launched POCSO e-Box/email/sms on NCPCR website for easy and direct reporting of POCSO cases to the Commission. Apart from development of manuals such as the manual on “Guidelines on Safety and Security of Children in School Settings”, it has conducted POCSO Awareness Campaigns.
(f) & (g): No such proposal has been made to the Ministry of Home Affairs by the Ministry of Women & Child Development.
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