POCSO: 52 teachers booked in 10 yrs
Bhanu P Lohumi
Tribune News Service
Shimla, November 15
As many as 52 teachers have been booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in the state in a decade.
Experts say these incidents could be attributed to the lack of teacher-student bond, degrading of moral values and easy excess to the Internet and pornography in both rural and urban areas, say experts.
More cases from rural areas
- Five such cases reported last year
- More cases reported from the rural areas as compared to the urban segment
- Child Sex Abuse Committees constituted in all schools
- Police have introduced a separate register for such offenders
Five such cases were reported last year. More cases were reported from the rural areas as compared to the urban segment and the Child Sex Abuse (CSA) Committee has been constituted in all schools.
“We have zero tolerance against sexual offences and steps like installation of CCTV cameras, creation of a helpline and complaint boxes have helped in reducing such cases,” said Director, Higher Education, Amarjeet Sharma, adding that stringent action was being taken against such teachers.
Acting tough against school managements and individuals, failing to promptly report the cases, the Education Department has cautioned that non-reporting of cases will attract imprisonment and fine, he added.
There are about one lakh teachers in elementary and higher education and counselling sessions and awareness programmes on the POCSO Act have been organised, sources in the department said.
Confirming that teachers were involved in 52 cases in 10 years, DGP Sanjay Kundu said there might be various reasons like availability of the Internet on mobile phones, courage on the part of victims to report crime and moral degradation in society.
The police have introduced a register for sexual offenders under which vital information like detail of the crime, including gist of the FIR and subsequent investigation, physical, social, economic and emotional profile of the accused was recorded in the register, which came handy in identifying particular areas and habitual offenders, he added.
