SHUBHANGI SHIFA
Ranchi, Sept 7: Despite being the state with the highest rate of rape of girls below the age of 16 years amid bordering states, Jharkhand seems to have the least number of cases registered under POCSO (Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences Act) as per the data recently released by the NCRB.
When compared to its neighbouring states including Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, Jharkhand has a total of 792 incidents with the same number of victims and a crime rate of 4.2 per lakh population.
Out of these, 569 incidents are of child rape, 117 incidents are of sexual assault on a child, 50 are that of use or possession of child porn, 16 come under section 12-17 under POCSO, while one of the incidents covers both POCSO and section 377 of unnatural offences.
Meanwhile, when comparing cases under POCSO, Bihar has 1561 incidents with the same number of victims; Chhattisgarh has 2,321 incidents with 2,349 victims; Odisha has 2,496 incidents with the same amount of victims; UP has 6,970 incidents with 7001 victims; and West Bengal has 2,569 cases with 2592 victims that have registered cases.
Of these, UP, here has the highest number of cases registered under POCSO, of which 2,747 are incidents with 2,749 victims of child rape, 4063 incidents with 4090 victims of sexual assault on a child, 64 incidents with 66 victims of sexual harassment, 30 incidents of possession or use of child porn, 57 cases under sections 17-22 under the POCSO act, and nine incidents that cover both POCSO and section 377 of unnatural offences.
Bihar has 654 cases of child rape, 738 cases of sexual assault on a child, 34 cases of sexual harassment, 135 cases of possession or use of child porn. On the other hand, Chhattisgarh has 1808 incidents reported of child rape, 456 cases with 484 victims of sexual assault on a child, 30 cases of sexual harassment, four incidents of possession or use of child porn, 22 cases under sections 17-22 under the POCSO act, and one incident covers both POCSO and section 377 of unnatural offences.
Meanwhile, Odisha has 1,871 incidents reported of child rape, 585 cases of sexual assault on a child, 17 cases of sexual harassment, 18 incidents of possession or use of child porn, and five cases under sections 17-22 under the POCSO act. West Bengal has 1,575 incidents with 1585 victims reported of child rape, 725 cases with 728 victims of sexual assault on a child, 236 cases with 246 victims of sexual harassment, 8 incidents of possession or use of child porn, and 25 cases under sections 17-22 under the POCSO act.
