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Crackdown on child pornography: WCD reaches out to IT ministry for help
The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act was amended earlier this year with stringent punishment for the possession and transmission of child pornography.
As it gets down to the business of cracking down on child pornography, the union ministry of women and child development has decided to seek the help of the information technology ministry, according to people present at a key meeting of stakeholders.
The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act was amended earlier this year with stringent punishment for the possession and transmission of child pornography.
On Friday, officials in the WCD ministry held consultations with several stakeholders, including those from the IT ministry to come up with new POCSO Rules. Rules usually lay out the standard code of procedures in any Act. WCD secretary Rabindra Panwar chaired the meeting, which was also attended by some NGOs, police officers from some states, and officials of the health ministry.
At the end of the meeting, it was decided to involve the IT ministry. “Any such imagery in the digital space is difficult to report, and the entire landscape is a fast-changing one. The IT ministry will help us understand this better,” said one of the members present at the meeting who asked not to be named.
Draft rules were also distributed during the meeting. Discussions for drafting the rules have been going on since October.
The POCSO Act was amended to introduce the death penalty for aggravated sexual assaults and to redefine child pornography. It now prescribes penal provisions including jail time for as much as seven years for the commercial distribution of computer-generated imagery involving child sex abuse and in cases of pornography where adults pretend to be children.
The amended act makes storing sexually-explicit material involving a child punishable by a Rs 5,000 fine in the first instance and a Rs 10,000 one in the second.
The new rules will also specify the amount of compensation to be paid to survivors under the amended law.
The draft rules suggested that the police will now prepare a victim impact assessment report of sexual abuse surviors within 24 hours of assault.
After the discussion, according to those present, it was decided that the ministry would discuss the modalities with the Hyderabad-based National Legal Services Authority of India to arrive at a compensation structure.
The Supreme Court in September last year asked the Centre to follow the National Legal Services Authority’s scheme regarding the compensation till the rules were specified.
Under the scheme, the maximum compensation for survivors in gang rape cases or for their kin in case of their death is Rs 10 lakh. It is 7 lakh in case of rape.
Bharati Ali, executive director of HAQ, Centre for Child Rights, who has sent written submissions to the ministry on the rules said that the Centre’s series of consultation is much needed. “To have further consultations is more important, keeping in mind the amendments. The Centre must refer to the Model POCSO Guidelines framed under section 39 of the act by the ministry,” said Ali.
