‘Gangrape capital’ of India, still hasn’t improved

NP NEWS 24 ONLINE : According to a data revealed from each district, more and more witnesses are turning into hostile in cases under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences(POCSO) Act in Haryana.

The report also states in past 21 months there have been 65% acquittals in 1,577 cases that were decided out of 2,845 cases registered.

In the recent ruling done by the Supreme Court to launch witness protection scheme across India has once again shed light on witnesses, especially women and children, withdrawing complaints resulting in poor conviction rates.

The report also state that most of the time, under the pressure of khap panchayat, family members tend to simply withdraw the allegation due to lack of protection from the state, several cases have been dismissed as sexual abuse survivors.

According to a study conducted by international non-profit organisation Save The Children Foundation, between January and April 2017, out of two POCSO cases registered every day in Haryana, only two convictions were reported while eight accused were acquitted as witnesses turned hostile. Almost half of the rape cases in Haryana involved child victims. In 518 out of 1,187 rape cases, the victims were minors.

According to the statistics available with the Women and Child Welfare Department, Haryana, Sonepat, Panchkula and Ambala had the highest conviction rates and Mewat and Dadri the lowest.

However, the number of acquittals was more than double the total number of convictions in rape cases of minors from January 2017 to September 2018.

The state is also among three in India to have passed the The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2018, which provides for stringent punishment including death penalty for those convicted of raping girls below the age of 12. However, Sunil Jagran, sarpanch, Bibipur village, Jind, doubts if this will help as he believes panchayat members who know an accused exert pressure on victims till the end of trials.