Justice Awaited for Victims of Child Sexual Abuse

India has 2,43,237 POCSO cases pending in its Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) till January 31, 2023, despite Central Government’s robust policy and financial commitment. Moreover, even if no new case is added to this long list, the country will need at least nine years to clear this backlog. Meanwhile, Bihar will take approximately 26 years to clear the pending POCSO cases.

In 2022, the number of cases that resulted in conviction remained a mere 3 percent nationally. This, along with a lot of other startling numbers and pertinent questions, were released in ‘Justice Awaits: An Analysis of the Efficacy of Justice Delivery Mechanisms in Cases of Child Sexual Abuse in India’, a research paper released by Vikasaarth Trust. The research paper has been prepared by India Child Protection Fund (ICPF). Both ICPF and Vikasaarth are coalition partners of Child Marriage Free India.

The findings of the paper cast a huge question mark on the efficacy of the country’s judicial system, despite the Central Government’s 2019 landmark decision to set up Fast Track Special Courts to provide justice to child sexual abuse victims and despite the government pumping in crores every year to ensure justice for every child.