pending child abuse cases: 389 districts have over 100 each

New Delhi (PTI): There are 389 districts in the country where the number of pending child abuse cases exceeds 100 and as per a Law Ministry proposal, one fast track special court will be set up in each of these districts to exclusively try such cases.

According to a Law Ministry document, "Scheme on Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) for expeditious disposal of cases of rape and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act", there are 389 districts in the country where the number of pending cases under the POCSO Act exceeds 100. "Therefore, as per the order of Apex (Supreme) Court, in each of these districts, one exclusive POCSO court will be set up which will try no other case," it said.

Depending upon the pendency of POCSO cases, the state or the Union territory governments, in consultation with the high courts concerned, could, however, decide if more number of exclusive POCSO courts need to be established within the overall number of FTSCs provided under this scheme. The Union government has proposed to set up a total of 1,023 fast-track special courts for expeditious trial of over 1.66 lakh pending cases of crime against women and children across the country.

Each of these special courts are expected to dispose of at least 165 such cases per year, the scheme document prepared by the Department of Justice of the Law Ministry said. A total of 1,023 FTSCs will be set up, out of which 389 courts, as per a Supreme Court direction, will exclusively handle cases registered under the POCSO Act, it said.

The remaining 634 FTSCs will deal with either rape cases or both rape and POCSO Act cases, depending upon the pendency and requirement. "Each FTSC is expected to dispose of 41-42 cases each quarter and at least 165 cases in a year," the document added. According to the document, a total of 1,66,882 cases of rape and those under POCSO Act are pending trial in various courts across the country. The process of setting up of these FTSCs is likely to begin on October 2, the Law Ministry had earlier said.