Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:
(a) the number of special courts formed under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO Act,2012 and the name of State where these courts are located;
(b) the number of cases lodged and pending under POCSO Act during the last three years; and
(c) the steps taken by the Government for early disposal of cases?
MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
(SHRIMATI MANEKA SANJAY GANDHI)
(a) : As per information available with the NCPCR, 605 Special Courts have been set up across 654 Districts under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) Act, 2012. The State/UT-wise details are given in Annexure-I.
(b) to (c): Based on the information collected from the States/UTs and collated by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), 45498 cases have been registered under the POCSO Act,2012, from November,2012 till March,2015; out of which 4316 cases are pending with the State Police (under investigation) and 35,700 cases are pending before the Courts. The State/UTs-wise details are given in Annexure-II. National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has started collecting data on the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act since 2014. As per available data, a total of 8,904 cases were registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act during 2014. The State Government/UT Administration have been requested from time to time to set up the Special Courts. The stakeholders concerned were also sensitized by holding a National Level Conference recently for effective implementation of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 including setting up of the special courts and timely disposal of the pending cases.
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