Mumbai: In 3 of 4 recent POCSO cases, girl, accused were in relationship

The Mumbai police on Wednesday registered four cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses POCSO Act In three the girl and the accused were known to each other and were in a relationship according to the policeThe increasing number of POCSO cases has become a major concern for the police and lawyers who are involved in these cases at the initial stageWhile the police say they have to go by the book once the matter is reported to them lawyers state that the former hide important details of the case that suggest that the victim was aware of what she was doing and in most cases the accused are granted bail or acquitted when courts observe that the girl was aware ofher actionsThe four recent cases have been registered at the Kasturba Marg Sion Gorai and Mahim police stations In the first case the girl was 15 years old as per the FIR registered by the police The teenrsquos family learnt that she was pregnant after they took her to a doctor for a menstrual cyclerelated problem According to the FIR the family took the girl to the police station and filed an FIR against a 21yearold man with whom the minor was in a relationship Accordingly the police arrested the man The accused lived in the same neighbourhood as the girlAlso Read Mira Bhayandar Three arrested for duping insurance policyholdersThe Sion police meanwhile arrested a 21yearold man after a 17yearold girl informed them that despite knowing she was a minor the accused established a sexual relationship with her and took photographs of her in the nude He had also allegedly stalked her on social media and threatened to share photographs of her in a bid to get her to continue having physical relations with him It was later revealed that both parties were in a relationshipIn the Gorai case the 21yearold accused has been absconding ever since he was booked under the POCSO Act The 17yearold complainant had alleged that the accused had raped her in a hotel room after promising to marry her In this case as well the police found that they were in a relationshipIn the last incident a 53yearold man was booked by the police under POCSO for allegedly exposing himself to a 12yearold girl According to the FIR the girl had taken a photograph of the accusedrsquos car He then went to her house in a towel and said that he would pose for her if she wanted to take a photograph and then removed his towel The family approached the court and based on the courtrsquos order the police registered an FIR The accused is currently abscondinglsquoExercising cautionrsquoldquoIn the case of POCSO we have to be very cautious and our first priority is to address the victim register the case and arrest the accused Everything is being done as per the lawrdquo a senior police officer said on condition of anonymity Advocate Sunil Pandey who had been handling such cases said ldquoIn the majority of POCSO cases I have handled it was revealed that the victim and men were known to each other which becomes very important because it shows that the minor knew what she was doing and this has become grounds for getting bail and in fact getting acquittal in some casesrdquoldquoThe police try to hide the fact that the accused and victim know each other to obtain a conviction and they ignore the chats and messages exchanged between the accused and the victim It was also found in most cases that families get these cases registered due to personal grudgesrdquo Pandey addedFacts and figuresAs per a report by the organisation Praja Foundation published in October 2022 in 100 per cent of cases of POCSO registered in Mumbai the minor and the accused knew each other and in 54 per cent of cases the accused were lovers friends or social media friends The report has also mentioned that till 2021 around 93 per cent of POCSO cases were pending trial and only in 35 per cent case of cases the accused were convicted