ABSTRACT
In order to provide timely justice to the child victims of sexual abuse in India, this article explores the function of Special Courts established by the POCSO Act. India, with the world's largest child population, faces alarming rates of crimes against children, including sexual abuse, kidnapping, and physical assault. In 2012, lawmakers sought to solve these problems by establishing Special Courts to handle cases involving children in a way that is both fair and expedited.
The main intention of the study is to test the effectiveness of Special Courts to protect the rights of child victims, identify the challenges at the implementation level and examine the consequences of delays in judicial procedures, inadequate infrastructure facilities, and victim support measures.
The study finds that despite various efforts and attempt in providing a child-centric legal environment, issues suchoverwhelming list of pending cases, long durations of trials, and nonavailability of infrastructure exist for the Special Courts. Also, despite provisions made for timely trials through legislation, many cases remain undeterred and repeated appearances of children in court intensifies trauma. Besides this, victim compensation and rehabilitation practices are not uniform among all the states.
While special courts under the POCSO Act are an important step towards protecting children, much needs to be done through systemic reforms. Improvement in the court infrastructure, judicial training, victim support services, and case management are some of the critical elements to make these courts deliver what is intended-that is, just, prompt outcomes for child victims.
Keywords: POCSO, Child Safety, Sexual Abuse, Child Victims, Special Courts
