Not reporting a child sex abuse case can land you in jail: HC

If you are informed or have knowledge about a child being sexually abused and you don’t report it to the police, you can be prosecuted under the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

This comes in a recent ruling of Bombay High Court wherein it held that any person who fails to report case of sexual abuse of a child despite having knowledge can be prosecuted.

This ruling of Justice Anant Badar of Bombay HC is contradictory to the view endorsed by the Chhattisgarh HC.

Justice Badar was hearing a revision petition moved by Suryakant Mane, principal of an ashram cum school where a minor girl was raped. He was booked for not informing the police about the rape, but rather insisting to resolve the issue over a “cup of coffee”.

It was the prosecution’s case that a minor was raped in the ashram cum school by a cook. The minor had accordingly told Mane about the incident but he did not inform the police.

The advocate appearing for Mane had placed reliance on a judgment of Chhattisgarh HC wherein it held, “It is necessary for the prosecution to establish first commission of the main offence before making the person (with knowledge of offence) liable for the offence punishable for failure to report or record a case under the POCSO Act.”

Taking a contradictory stand, Justice Badar said, “In the wake of the fact that the revision petitioner (Mane) was certainly having the knowledge of commission of the alleged offence, I am unable to persuade myself to endorse the view taken by the learned Single Judge of Chhattisgarh High Court.”