Soon, e-button to register child abuse complaints

JAMSHEDPUR: Jharkhand has initiated the process to activate the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) e-button across the 24 districts for lodging complaints about sexual abuse of children.

The POCSO e-box and e-button is an online complaint management system for easy and direct reporting of sexual offences against children and timely action against the offenders under the POCSO Act that aims to expedite the process of follow-up police and legal action and updated information on the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCRCR) website.

Union minister of women and child development Maneka Gandhi launched the system in Delhi on August 26. The idea of an e-Box came out of a police initiative in which physical complaint boxes were placed in schools.

State human resources development secretary Aradhana Patnaik in a letter to the deputy commissioners, district superintendents of education and district education officers, has directed them to activate the POCSO e-button for online filing of complaints of sexual offences against children, expedite action, direct reporting and spreading awareness.

“We’ve asked the district commissioners to immediately start dealing cases and complaints related to sexual offences against children under their jurisdiction through the POCSO e-button under e-box on the NCPCR website. The district superintendents of education and district education officers have also been asked to start e-button system in their offices with detailed guidelines how to operate,” Patnaik told Hindustan Times.

“They have also been asked to hold awareness campaign among people on this,” she said.

Data of the union ministry of women and child development states that a national study has found 53% of the children surveyed reported to have faced one or other form of sexual abuse in their lifetime. In most cases the offenders was a family member or near relative or an acquaintance and most such cases go unreported.

State criminal investigation department’s data show that 328 cases were registered under the POCSO Act, across the state between January 2014 and April 2015. Cases registered under the act in 2013 were just 20.