Published Paper Details:

The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 enacted by Government of India provides safeguards for children against sexual abuse. The Act was amended in 2019 to introduce more stringent punishment including death penalty for committing sexual crimes against children, with a view to deter the perpetrators & prevent such crimes against children. Prior to the enactment of the POCSO Act, these cases used to be tried under Indian Penal Code 1860 which did not have any specific child-friendly provisions. To bring a comprehensive legal framework to protect children below 18 years from offences of sexual abuse, the POCSO Act was enacted. Severe penalties were prescribed for the offenders and mechanisms to be followed for the investigations and prosecution of such cases were indicated. While POCSO Act has been effective since more than ten years, statistics show that child sexual abuse cases continue to increase, and most perpetrators are either known to the victim or are a trusted person. Hence, this present article focused on POCSO case data from Madhya Pradesh based on the Crime in India report from 2015 and 2022. In terms of child sexual offenses, Madhya Pradesh has consistently ranked among the top five states, making it an appropriate target for such assessment. These high incidence rates make it important to assess whether the POCSO Act has been useful in preventing these offenses as well as delivering justice for child victims. Further, this article will demonstrate the effectiveness of the POCSO Act on delivering justice to its victims through analyzing eight years of NCRB data and intends to uncover whether or not the POCSO act fulfilled its mission in Madhya Pradesh.