Law to protect children against sexual offences soon: Tirath
By IANSFriday, November 26, 2010
NEW DELHI - The government has proposed to bring in a new law to curb rising number of cases of sexual offence against children and a draft bill is at the stage of inter-ministerial consultation, Women and Child Development Minister Krishna Tirath said Friday.
“The draft bill on protection of children from sexual offences is at the stage of inter-ministerial consultation and will be introduced after these are completed and after seeking the approval of the competent authority,” Tirath told the Lok Sabha.
“The draft bill incorporates child friendly procedures for reporting, recording, investigating and trial of offences. It aims to protect the child’s right to privacy, provides for designation of special courts for trial of offences and stringent punishment to provide adequate deterrence,” she added.
The minister quoted the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data to say that cases of sexual offences against children “are on the rise”. From 2,256 cases in 2001, the number increased to 5,749 in 2008.
Further, a study by the women and child development ministry in 2007 showed that over 50 percent of the 12,447 children interviewed faced some form of sexual abuse. And in most cases the offender was known to the child.
