Justice That Heals

In an astonishing endeavour, a court in Auraiya, UP, gave a judgment in a record nine days from the date of filing of the charge sheet in a rape case. This shows that the judiciary can triumph over proverbial delays

It is normal human tendency to paint the world black. We all know the maxim that bad news travels fast whereas good news slowly sinks in. But we rarely realise that good news matters a great deal, especially for violated victims and the perpetrators of violent crimes against vulnerable sections of society who are globally increasing.

The good news is that the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, enacted in 2012, with the efforts of law reformers, civil society campaigns, activist justices, progressive public opinion, enlightened governance institutions and Parliament, has actually made a difference. In fact, a special court in Auraiya (UP) awarded a conviction and sentence under the POCSO Act and remarkably, the police submitted a charge sheet within 20 days of the complaint whereas the Act grants an outer limit of one year from the date of cognizance to completion of trial. This goes to prove that where there is a will, there can always be a way to do a good deed.

Under POCSO, for the first time in India, specific offences against the child (defined as a person under the age of 18) were enunciated: Penetrative sexual assault (Section 3), aggravated penetrative sexual assault (Section 5), sexual assault (Section 7), aggravated sexual assault (Section 9), sexual harassment of the child (Section 11) and the use of a child for pornographic purposes (Section 13). These multiple aggressions are precisely delineated and extend to a wide variety of individual and collective activities.