Must shield child victims of criminal cases: Madras high court

CHENNAI: Unlike legal safeguards and remedial measures ensured under the Pocso Act, child victims of other criminal cases do not have a support system in place, Madras high court has rued. The court has sought special measures and action on the issue.

Disposing of a criminal appeal in a murder case, in which an eight-year-old girl was witness to the murder of her mother by her schizophrenic uncle, a division bench comprising Justice MS Ramesh and Justice N Senthilkumar said it is not an isolated case of a child being subjected to such trauma.

"We have been handling several cases where innocent children are witness to several criminal cases. Even in cases where a child witnesses harsh quarrels between his or her parents, they undergo mental agony. But there are no regulations for child victims in other criminal cases to extend psychological evaluation or counselling," the order stated. The bench recorded the submissions of senior counsel Abudu Kumar Rajaratnam that National Policy for Children, 2013, though published in the Gazette of India on May 11, 2013, is still not implemented.

The bench invoked the inherent powers to suo motu implead Union ministry of women and children development, Tamil Nadu home secretary, state social welfare department secretary, DGP and institute of mental health as respondents in the case and posted the matter to April 21 for further proceedings.