Improved awareness among children about sexual exploitations and stringent action taken by the police against suspects have led to a noticeable increase in the number of cases registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in Kozhikode district. Over 60 cases were registered in the past two months alone in the district, according to the latest figures from the District Crime Records Bureau (DCRB).
“Legal awareness sessions conducted by the school authorities, legal experts, and the police have made a sweeping change in society. Now, children are very much aware of good touch and bad touch, types of sexual exploitations, the way to combat them legally and ways to overcome the trauma,” said P. Semeena, a school counsellor. She pointed out that mass media awareness programmes had also helped children understand the reality and respond accordingly.
According to DCRB reports, the total number of POCSO cases registered in Kozhikode district in 2024 was 460. At the same time, there were altogether 4,595 similar cases in Kerala. In 2023, the total number of POCSO cases was 421 in the district. There were only 451 and 287 cases in 2022 and 2021, respectively. Police sources said the quarterly figures, on getting compiled data, would be higher than those of the previous years.
“We had made strong interventions in the field asking the school authorities to report all suspected cases to the police officers concerned. The Childline India Foundation has made its presence felt with a lot of interventions to protect children and expose the suspects,” said a senior police officer with the juvenile wing. He added that school counsellors across the State had cooperated with the State government’s plan to improve children’s safety and reported many incidents fearlessly.
A woman police officer who was part of a series of legal awareness classes for schoolchildren on the POCSO Act said there were even children who brought to light incidents of sexual exploitation by their own family members because of the improved awareness about the legal system. “We proceeded with registering cases only after thorough verification of complaints through multiple counselling sessions and inquiries,” she said.
At the same time, the delay in appointment of professional counsellors in many government, aided and unaided schools has emerged as a concern for several parents. Functionaries of some parent-teacher associations in Kozhikode said that shortage of funds or lack of awareness about the need to appoint professional counsellors continued to be a major reason. A State-level survey should be conducted to identify such schools and find a solution to the issue, they said.
Published – March 13, 2025 08:43 pm IST