166 people convicted, 389 acquitted under POCSO Act

NEW DELHI: The accused in 166 cases have been convicted under Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act 2012 and a majority of these convictions happened in Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab, the government today said.

As per the details provided by Minister for Women and Child Development (WCD) Maneka Gandhi in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, there were acquittals in 389 cases.

As per the data furnished by National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), which Gandhi presented before the House, 6,816 FIRs have been registered under this Act and in 5,340 cases chargesheets filed.

Rajasthan, with 936 FIRs, had the most number of cases registered, followed by Maharashtra where 926 FIRs had been filed.

In terms of convictions, accused were convicted in 65 cases in Madhya Pradesh followed by Haryana (46) and Punjab (29), as per the details.

In response to a separate question, the WCD minister said the government had identified 100 districts as a pilot for convergent action to improve Child Sex Ratio (CSR) on the basis of Census 2011.

In a written reply to yet another question, Gandhi said that stunting i.e. low-height for age in children is a measure of chronic undernutrition.

As per National Family Health Survey 3 (2005-06), 48 percent of under-five children are stunted in the country.