Convicting perpetrators of child abuse in the state has got a shot in
the arm with South India’s first children’s court being opened on the
premises of Metropolitan Criminal Courts, Nampally in the city on
Wednesday. The court is the third in the country, with one each in Delhi
and Goa.
The court was jointly inaugurated by acting HC chief
justice Ramesh Ranganathan and TS director general of police (DGP)
Anurag Sharma. It was presided by T Rajani, Metropolitan Sessions judge,
and Dr Soumya Misra, inspector general of police (IG), Crime
Investigation Department.
“When compared to our existing court
halls where children get intimidated easily and do not testify properly,
the children’s court is far better in providing a congenial
environment”, said judge T Rajani. She called upon all judicial officers
to make time from their regular proceedings and take the trouble of
going to the basement (the location of the children’s court) and record
the testimony of the children.
DGP Anurag Sharma said in most of
the cases, the victim knows the accused. The children’s court would help
the child in feeling less intimidated and open up in describing the
incident, thus ensuring higher conviction rates for crimes under
Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), he added.
Soumya
Misra, IG, CID called the event a ‘golden letter day’ in the history of
Telangana judiciary, and added that on behalf of the DGP, she would be
instructing the entire Telangana police force to ensure any victim of
POCSO case be taken to children’s court for testifying.
Courtesy: The New Indian Express
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