KOZHIKODE: There has been a rise in the number of cases registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in Malappuram district, with opinion divided on whether this reflects a vigilant child protection system or is indicative of growing sexual depravity.
According to the District Crime Records’ Bureau (DCRB) statistics, Malappuram leads the state in this regard, with 246 POCSO cases being registered in the district till June. Since 2012 -- barring 2017 -- Malappuram has witnessed the maximum number of POCSO cases registered by anyone district in the state, as per the State Crime Records’ Bureau (SCRB) data.
Of the 13,232 POCSO cases registered in the state during the 2012 - 2017 April period, 1,450(11 per cent) were in Malappuram district, with Thiruvananthapuram rural coming in second. A police source said compared to the other districts, sexual abuse of boys is more rampant. But owing to the huge backlog of POCSO cases, the victims are unable to be send back to their respective homes resulting in government-run children’s homes being stretched to the limits.
Adv Shajesh Bhaskar, district Child Welfare Committee (CWC) chairman, attributes two major reasons for this -- emotional blackmailing of minor boys in religious institutions and sexual assaults taking place inside households.
“Many people send their boys to orphanage not as a result of grinding poverty, but because they are unable to look after them. Many incidents of the sexual abuse take place at these residential religious centres. Secondly, there are cases where the perpetrator is a close relative,” he said.
There are even cases in which children have been abused by a parent forced to return home following economic recession in the Gulf, sources said. P Suresh, Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KeSCPCR) chief, said the Malappuram case calls for a detailed study.
“Increased awareness of child rights has resulted in more cases being reported. Even minor cases are being reported. Also, many estranged couples are using their children to lodge fake cases to wreak vengeance on their partner. This is also a reality,” he told Express.
Since failure to report POCSO offences is a crime, none wants to take chances and all the stakeholders -- schools, Childline and NGOs -- report cases, says Adv Naseer Chaliyam, KeSCPCR member.
Childline district coordinator Anvar Karakkattil said, “The increase in the number of POCSO cases reflects the existence of a vibrant childcare and protection system in Malappuram. The district has more number of children and an effective system which brings to light even a minor instance of child sex abuse. But several cases also go unreported. If we zero in on the coastal belt, there will be more cases.”