Crimes Against Children
Author: LawSphereX
Category: Criminal Law
Published:
Updated:
CRIMES AGAINST CHILDREN
A. Benisha, LL.M., School of Excellence in Law, The Tamilnadu Dr. Ambedkar Law
University, Chennai
ABSTRACT
Crimes against children are offenses that harm them physically, emotionally, or psychologically. These crimes come in various forms which includes physical abuse, sexual exploitation, neglect, and emotional maltreatment. These type of offenses can happen in various environments including homes, schools, and online platforms. The consequences of these crimes on the children can be very severe, leading to long-term physical and mental health issues for the victims. Addressing this issue requires comprehensive legal frameworks, effective law enforcement, public awareness campaigns, and accessible support services for affected children.
This paper deals with the impact of violence of children, strategies to prevent those violence against children, the existing child protection laws in India like the POCSO (The Protection Of Children From Sexual Offences), The Juvenile Justice (Care And Protection Of Children) Act, 2015, The Constitution Of India and this research paper has also analysed the reports of The World Health Organization (WHO) and National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) Report, 2022. This paper has also examined certain case laws relating to various crimes committed against children. Keywords: Offences, NCRB, WHO, Children, Legal Frameworks.
INTRODUCTION
Children, who are innocent in nature but their innocence is being misused by others. Since 1950’s, child abuse has been a major concern but children have been victimized by adults throughout the history. Violence against children is of great concern to the society because children’s are considered to be the most vulnerable groups. A report by World Health Organization (WHO) regarding violence and health stated the issue of violence against children as a major problem with a global magnitude. Crimes committed against children happen in different forms like physical, sexual, emotional, psychological and neglect etc. Child trafficking, child slavery, sexual abuse, killing of girl children, child labour, child marriage and forcing children’s to beg are the various kinds of crimes done against children. Violence against children is a great threat as it happens all around the world.
Every day there are many horrifying crimes against children taking place which most people do not hear about. Thanks to these modern day monsters, for making the world no longer safer for children. Since children’s face violence during their adolescent period, it can have lifelong impacts on the health and wellbeing of the children. There are many laws for the protection on children in India like Protection of Children From Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, Juvenile Justice (Care And Protection Of Children) Act, 20151, The Constitution Of India etc. The framers of our laws has been well known of the truth that the improvement of the country may be accomplished by the improvement of the children’s of the state and it is important to defend the children’s from exploitation as well. There is also a child helpline number i. e. 1098 in India.
According to the WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO), it is estimated that 1 billion children who are aged between 2-17 years have experienced physical, sexual, or emotional violence or neglect”2. Violence against children crosses across boundaries of geography, race, class, religion and culture. Violence against children usually occurs in homes, schools, streets, entertainment places and in child care centers. The Perpetrators include their own parents, family members, teachers, caretakers, law enforcement authorities and other children. 3According to the NATIONAL CRIME RECORDS BUREAU (NCRB) report, more than one lakh forty thousand crimes against children have been recorded in 2018, which means as 388 crimes were committed each day in the year. 4 This study is to identify the key issues faced by children’s,
1 https://wcd.nic.in/sites/default/files/POCSO-ModelGuidelines.pdf
2 https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/violence-against-children
3 https://www.thinkchildsafe.org/thinkbeforedonating/wp-content/uploads/World-Report-On-Violence-Against- Children-UN.pdf
4 http://ncrb.gov.in/StatPublications/CII/CII2016/pdfs/Crime%20Statistics%20-%202016.pdf
how can it be reduced and provide some recommendations on how it can be addressed in a better way.
IMPACT OF VIOLENCE ON CHILDREN
Exposure of violence in childhood has lifetime effect on health and well being of children and it can:
• RESULT IN DEATH
Homicide is one of the primary causes for death in adolescents with over 80% of perpetrators being boys. For each and every homicide there is enormous number of male dominated victims of teenager who gets injured because of physical fight.
• IMPAIR BRAIN AND NERVOUS SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT
Due to the exposure of violence at their childhood age, it can damage brain development and further damages other sections of the nervous system and it can also affect their endocrine, circulatory, musculoskeletal, respiratory and immune systems which can have lifelong consequences. It can also lead to negative effect on cognitive development and can lead to low performance in educational and employment trainings.
• RESULT IN NEGATIVE COPING AND HEALTH RISK BEHAVIOURS
Children who have experienced hostility and other trauma are likely to smoke, use alcohol and drugs and can take part in ill-legal activities. Due to the exposure of violence at their childhood can lead to high levels of anxiety, dejection, other mental problems and can lead children’s to commit suicide.
• IMPACT OPPORTUNITIES AND FUTURE GENERATIONS
Children’s who have experienced violence are likely to discontinue their schooling and they may difficulty in finding a job for themselves and they are at a higher risk of being a victim in the future or perpetration of violence among individuals and self directed violence, by which it can affect the future generation also.
PREVENTION OF VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN
To prevent violence against children the following steps can be taken: • Rehabilitation centers should be set up everywhere so that the children who are exposed to violence can access effective emergency care and receive appropriate psychosocial support. • To give young children an educational head start, pre-school enrichment programs can be done. • Parents should make surrounding a violent free zone and children’s should stay away from violent TV shows and children’s should not be kept under the same roof with an abusive adult. • Keeping children’s away from alcohol and drug problems. • Education and life skills training must be given to children and ensure that the children attend schools daily and are provided with life and social skills training.
• Implementing and enforcement of laws of good laws like POCSO and banning violent discipline and restricting access to alcohol and firearms. • Immediate Response Service Provision should be implemented. • In schools, children’s must be taught with special programs like what is “good touch and bad touch” so that the children can learn to avoid potentially harmful scenarios. • To reinforce parenting skills a support group structure is needed and they have to closely monitor the child’s well-being and also to observe and evaluate the progress of the child.
CHILD PROTECTION LAWS IN INDIA
• THE PROTECTION OF CHILDREN FROM SEXUAL OFFENCES (POCSO)
The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 was initiated by the government of India to deal with the cases of child abuse. This Act is applicable to all over
India5. The POCSO Act came into force on 14th November, 2012. This Act is Indian government’s most progressive laws which aim to combat sexual violence against children. The said Act defines a child as any person below eighteen years of age, and defines different forms of sexual abuse, including penetrative and non-penetrative assault, as well as sexual harassment and pornography, and deems a sexual assault to be “aggravated” under certain circumstances, such as when the abused child is mentally ill or when the abuse is committed by a person in a position of trust or authority vis-à-vis the child, like a family member, police officer, teacher, or doctor.6
• THE JUVENILE JUSTICE (CARE AND PROTECTION OF CHILDREN) ACT,
Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 was passed by the parliament of India. This act replaced the Indian Juvenile delinquency law, which is the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 and this Act allows Juveniles in the age group of 16 to 18, who are involved in Heinous Offences to be tried as Adults.
• THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA
The constitution of India provides some rights to children’s as a citizen of the country and the state has enacted special laws in order to keep their special status. The Indian constitution provides some rights which are specifically meant for children include: • ARTICLE 21 A – Right to free and compulsory education for all children in the age 6 to 14 years. • ARTICLE 24 - Right to be protected from any hazardous employment till the age of 14 years. • ARTICLE 39(E) – Right to be protected from being abused and forced by economic necessity to enter occupations unsuited to their age or strength. • ARTICLE 39(F) – Right to equal opportunity and facilities to develop in a healthy
5 https://www.prsindia.org/billtrack/protection-children-sexual-offences-amendment-bill-2019-0
6 https://wcd.nic.in/sites/default/files/POCSO-ModelGuidelines.pdf
manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity and guaranteed protection of childhood and youth against exploitation and against moral and material abandonment. • ARTICLE 45 – Right to early childhood care and education to all children until they complete the age of 6 years. • ARTICLE 14 – Right to equality. • ARTICLE 15 – Right against discrimination. • ARTICLE 21 – Right to personal liberty and due process of law. • ARTICLE 23 – Right to being protected from being trafficked and forced into bonded labor. • ARTICLE 29 – Right of minorities for protection of their interests. • ARTICLE 46 – Right to weaker sections of the people to be protected from social injustice and all forms of exploitation. • ARTICLE 47 – Right to nutrition and standard of living and improved public health.7
THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
According to the World Health Organization, it is estimated that up to 1 billion children aged 2-17 years, have experienced physical, sexual or emotional violence or neglect. Target 16.2 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is to “end abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of, children”.8 In May 2016, to strengthen the part of the health care system within a national multisectoral response the World Health Assembly resolution pioneered the World Health Organization global plan of action in order to address the violence among individuals and specifically against children’s and women. World Health Organization in partnership with the member states and other partner, the World Health Organization is committed to:
7 https://www.haqcrc.org/child-rights/constitution-of-india/
8 https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/violence-against-children
Monitor the global magnitude and other aspects of crimes against children and to support the country efforts to measure such type of violence. • Maintain an electronic data system this includes all the systematic data on the burden, key risk factors and the consequences of cruelty against children and the affirmation for its preventability. • Develop and disseminate evidence-based technical guidance documents, norms and standards for the prevention of violence against children. • Regularly publish reports on global status of country’s efforts in order to address violence against children through policies and action plans and prevention programmes. • Support countries and other partners to implement the evidence based prevention and response strategies.
• Collaborate with international agencies and organizations in order to eliminate violence against children internationally, by way of initiatives like the Global Partnership to End violence against children. 9
NATIONAL CRIME RECORDS BUREAU (NCRB) REPORT
• NCRB REPORT- 2018
According to the National Crime Record Bureau Report, more than One Lakh Forty Thousand crimes against children were recorded in the year 2018, which means per day 388 crimes was committed. This was revealed by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) latest report which was published on 9th January 2020. According to this 2020 National Crime Record Bureau’s Report, violence against children has increased abruptly over 500% from 2008 to 2018, from 22,500 cases in 2008 to 1,17,064 cases were recorded in 2018. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) Report 2018, it revealed that kidnapping and abduction stands at the first place at the top of all crime heads against children. In 2018, 62,668 number of kidnapping and abduction cases were recorded, which saw a rise of
9 https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/violence-against-children
15.7% over the previous year (2017). From the year 2011, kidnapping and abduction cases are standing at the first place on the top of all crime heads against children. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) Report 2018, crimes under protection of children from sexual offences (POCSO) Act stands at the second place, with the largest category of crimes committed against children with 39,827 cases registered in one year. In addition to this, 9312 cases of rape were registered under Section 376 of IPC. The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) Report 2018, says that cases under cyber crimes and Information Technology (IT) Act against children saw a steep rise of 48% over the previous year as 117 cases were recorded under this.
10 National Crime Records Bureau Report
11 The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) Report on Crimes Against Children
The National Crime Record Bureau, mentioned about the state-wise segregation of violence against children in its report. The report reveals that the top five big states namely Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Delhi and Bihar, compose 51 percent of all the crimes in the country. Whilst Uttar Pradesh stands at the top of the list with 19,936 crimes recorded, which is almost 14% of the total crimes. Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra stands at the second and third place with 18,992 and 18,892 crimes recorded respectively. When it comes to the rate of violence against children Delhi tops the list with 147. 2%, while the national average is only 31. 8%. The report also shows that shelter homes are no way protective for children’s. Cases of sexual harassment against children in homes is said to have increased by 30%.
In 2017, only 544 cases have been recorded but in 2018, it has increased to 707 cases. More worryingly, 32% of the cases against children which have been registered under the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act were committed by the care takers of the children or the in-charges of juvenile homes. According to the report, 67,134 children were reported missing in 2018, in which 70% were girls. From this below illustration, it can be understood that the crimes agsint children has increased during 2008 to 2014 according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) Report.
12 The National Crime Record Bureau Report
.
• RECENT NCRB REPORT,2022
The recent data from the NCRB, 2022, this report unveils shocking facts about the crimes committed against the children. The 2022 report states that there is a increase in 32% than the last year for the crimes committed agsint the children. Overall, crime against children witnessed a remarkable increase of 8. 73 per cent with the total number of crimes committed against them standing at 1,62,449; while in the previous year, the number stood at 1,40,40414. This is mainly due the COVID- 19 pandemic. Where the children got exposure to digital education, entertainment platforms like social media , which has increased their vulnerability in the digital medium. The NCRB Report 2022, reveels that 1,823 cases has been registered under the category of cyber crimes agsint children in the year 2022, which was 1,376 in the last year15.
This crimes include 1,171 cyber pornography cases or the dissemination of inappropriate content, 158 cases registered under cyberstalking and bullying and 416 other cyber related offences16.
13 The National Crime Record Bureau Report
https://www.deccanherald.com/india/cybercrimes-against-children-see-32-rise-in-a-year-ncrb-report-shows-
2799597. Last visited on March 15 2025.
Mohua Das, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/child-cyber-crime-surges-32-reveals-ncrb-dataunderlining-vulnerability-to-online-risks/articleshow/107168056.cms, Jan 26, 2024, Last visited on March 15 2025. Press Information Bureau
(PIB)
Delhi, “Increase in cyber crimes”,
FEB
2022, https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=2003505, Last visited on March 15 2025.
CASE LAWS
• KATHUA RAPE CASE
This case refers to the abduction, rape and murder of an 8 year old girl called as Asifa Bano. She was abducted, raped and murdered in Rasana village near Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir, India. This case made national news when charges were filed against the accused persons. This case happened in January 2018. On 12th January 2018, the victim’s father, mohammad yusuf, filed a complaint in the Hiranagar police station stating that his daughter had gone missing. He said that his daughter had gone to watch the grazing horses in the afternoon on 10th January
2018. At 2 PM he saw his daughter but when the horses returned at 4 PM, his daughter was no
longer seen with the Horses. He searched for his daughter but as he was unable to find her, her father gave a First Information Report (FIR) to the police. This was stated in the 5600 word chargesheet, which was filed by a Senior Superintendent of Police of Jammu. On 17th January 2018, the victim’s body was found by the villagers 1 kilometer away from the village and it was taken into custody by the police to allow an post-mortem to be conducted. At 2:30 PM, the post-mortem was conducted by the doctors at the District Hospital in Kathua. On 22nd January 2018, the case was transferred to the crime branch and crime headquarters, Jammu and Kashmir. The police released a statement which listed out the seven accused persons which includes four police officers. Eight people including the four police officers were arrested.
On suspicion, two police officers were arrested for attempting to destroy the evidence and also for accepting the money to cover up the incident. one of the accused claimed that he was 15 years old but through medical examination it was found that he was 19. One of the accused named Sanji Ram was described by the police that he was the person to devise the plan of kidnap and murder. On 9th April, a charge sheet was filed against the seven accused persons. The accused persons were charged under sections 302,376,201 and 120-B of the Jammu and Kashmir State Ranbir Penal Code. The chargesheet against the remaining accused was under the preparation stage. 17 The post-mortem report revealed that there was a presence of Clonazepam in the body of the dead girl. After the examination by the doctors it was found that she was been drugged with a 17https://timesofindia. indiatimes.
com/india/kathua-case-police-to-produce-witnesses-including-ssptomorrow/articleshow/64533137. cms
sedative before she was been raped and murdered. According to the forensic evidence, the girl was held for several days by one of the accused named Sanji Ram. The forensic examination says that Asifa, the victim, has been raped several times by different men and she was been strangled to death and the accused persons hit her in the head with a heavy stone. Sanji Ram was the priest of the temple where the incident took place and he is said to be the main accused of this case. His son named Vishal and his nephew who was a Juvenile was also an accused in this case. The other accused persons are Deepak Khajuria and Parvesh Kumar who were the police officers, Tilak Raj, ahead constable and Arvind Dutta, a sub inspector. On 10th June 2019, six of the seven accused were found guilty and one of the accused person was acquitted.
Sanji Ram, Deepak Khajuria and Pravesh Kumar were sentenced to life imprisonment of 25 years along with a fine of Rs. 1, 00,000. The other three accused persons,namely, Tilak Raj, Anand Dutta and Surender Verma was sentenced for five years of imprisonment for destroying the crucial evidence in this case. Due to lack of evidence, the court acquitted Sanji Ram’s son, Vishal. The eighth accused, Sanji Ram’s nephew, who was a Juvenile, was tried at a Juvenile court.
• 4 MONTH OLD BABY RAPED IN INDORE
In Indore, a 4 month old baby was raped and murdered in the historic rajwada area in the wee hours of Thursday. 18 The baby’s body was found in the basement of the heritage Shiv Vilas Palace. The place was filled with blood smears. The post-mortem report confirmed the savage sexual assault and the report said that the infant died due to the injuries in the head. The Sub Inspector, Trolik Singh Varkade of Sarafa Police station was suspended for negligence in duty because he, failed to inform his seniors about the heinous crime in his area said DIG, Harinarayanachari Mishra. The baby’s father sells balloons and lives nearby that area. The facts of this case are the baby was sleeping peacefully with her family in the porch outside Rajwada. The accused took the baby girl right under the noses of patrolling policemen.
The CCTV footages shows that a man arrives near the porch with a cycle and he picks up the girl and he moves towards a commercial complex, which is built on a portion of Shiv Vilas Palace around 4. 45 AM and he seems to return to the spot alone. Initially, the police detained a member 18https://timesofindia. indiatimes. com/city/indore/4-month-baby-raped-and-murdered-in-indore-madhyapradesh-hangs-its-head-in-shame/articleshow/63853354. cms
in their family but cleared him. The arrested suspect was a relative of the victim. The policemen seized his bloodstained clothes and his cycle. The policemen were in the same area when the incident took place. But the 4 month old baby was sleeping with other men and women, who was one of the perpetrator. The policemen said that he did not know that he was not a family member. The 4 months old baby mother said to the police that when she woke up at around 3 AM and checked, the baby was safe and realized that she was missing when they woke up at
5.30 AM. After searching for her and as they were unable to find the 4 month old baby, they
lodged a complaint in the Sarafa police station. Around 11.30 AM, the infant’s body was found behind a statue of Rani Ahilya Bai Holkar. It was a shop assistant to find the dead body of the baby. The police found blood all over the basement area. The policemen were moved to tears as they conducted a preliminary examination of the ravaged body and carried it away in a little bundle19. The short post-mortem report said that the child died due to the head injury it also said that she was sexually assaulted before her death.
CONCLUSION
Preventing violence against children is not simply a matter of parents doing a better job but instead it is all about creating a context in which doing better is easier. Violence against children and neglect has longer impact on the child so in order to protect the children from this situation, it is necessary to develop preventive programs and to develop and inforce legal ramifications. As per NCRB Report 2022, we can see that the crimes committed against children is increasing at a rapid rate. The government and interested organizations can take necessary actions to stop violence against children. Enhanced laws and support from the society are necessarily needed to successfully combat violence against children. 19https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/indore/4-month-baby-raped-and-murdered-in-indore-madhyapradesh-hangs-its-head-in-shame/articleshow/63853354.cms
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