Shillong, Feb 29: Cases of sexual assaults under POCSO were highest in East Khasi Hills district and lowest in South Garo Hills, reveals a preliminary report by the Meghalaya State Commission for Protection of Child Rights.
The report also found that there was a rise in the number of POCSO cases during the Covid pandemic 2020-2022.
Following the implementation of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POSCO) Act 2012, as many as 2566 cases were registered, out of which a total of 1984 cases are still pending in the various district Courts in Meghalaya, the report mentions.
The first POCSO case to be registered under the newly designated POCSO Courts was on June 4, 2013 at the East Khasi Hills POCSO Court.
Till date, the disposal rate of cases in the state of Meghalaya is a dismal 22.68%, the data shows.
A surprising finding was the spike in sexual crimes during the pandemic.
From 2020-22 of the pandemic the number of cases instituted were highest at 365 in 2020 and 378 in 2021.
Data from the district level revealed that East Khasi Hills registered the highest number of POCSO cases at 709 which accounts for 28% of all POCSO cases in the State.
The lowest number of POCSO cases instituted in the state goes to South Garo Hills which account for only 2% of the total at 64 Cases.
When it came to convictions in the cases, it is pertinent to point out that Ri Bhoi District obtained the distinction of having the highest number of convictions at 50 followed by West Khasi hills at 31 convictions and closely followed by East Khasi Hills with 30 such convictions.
South Garo Hills and South West Garo Hills have 0 (zero) number of Convictions, which according to the Commision report, may be partly due to the fact that there is no Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) appointed in South Garo Hills to try the cases and hence all cases in the district are pending before the Court in this district.
On the other hand, South West Garo Hills district has a POCSO Court established in 2017 but has not had a single conviction.
The Meghalaya State Commission for Protection of Child Rights on Thursday has publicly released the POCSO Act 2012 translated version in Khasi so as to get a better understanding of the Act by the general public. The Commission is now aiming at translating the Act into Garo Language.
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