The Ministry of Women and Child Development told the Lok Sabha on July 30 that between 2017 to 2019, as many as 1,340 cases were registered against caretakers or persons in charge of Juvenile Homes for abuse of children lodged in these Homes.
Smriti Irani, Minister of Women and Child Development responded to the question raised by MP Kamlesh Paswan inquiring about incidents of exploitation/sexual harassment of children in Juvenile Homes and orphanages. The figures were presented from the data collected by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
The Juvenile Justice (Child and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 has provisions mandating regular monitoring and inspection of Child Care Institutions (CCI) and the prerogative for the same is upon National & State Commissions for Protection of Child Rights.
While the question was about exploitation/sexual harassment in CCIs, the table heading uses an indicative term: Offences by Care Takers/In-charge of Juvenile Homes. Thus, it is unclear what kind of offences these are. However, it is certain that the offences have been committed against children who are under the care and protection of the government.
Also, children in need of care and protection are housed in these CCIs which means they could be children who were found begging, have been exploited by a guardian, are mentally ill or have unfit guardians or have been abandoned, victim of armed conflict and generally found to be vulnerable, as defined under section 2(14) of the Juvenile Justice Act.
The NCRB data says that in 2017, a total of 297 persons were arrested for crimes against children in CCIs, and in that only 13 persons were convicted. In the year 2018, the figure of persons arrested for these crimes increased drastically to 727 and the rate of conviction remained low at 14.
In 2019, which is the latest data available, 499 persons were arrested and the conviction was a bit high at 48 convictions, with states of Rajasthan (21) and Tamil Nadu (24) recording most of these convictions. In this period of 2017-2019, in Gujarat 534 persons were arrested, however in this entire period, only 1 person was convicted. Even Maharashtra has had an abysmal record in these terms.In 2017-2019, a total of 232 person were arrested. However, only 130 were chargesheeted and only 5 were convicted.
The response may be read here:
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