112,000 cases of child sex abuse pending in courts; SC had directed courts to ensure speedy trial

It's a Sunday guardian exclusive. Despite the Supreme Court's directions to courts to ensure a speedy trial in child sex abuse cases, over 112,000 cases under the POCSO Act are pending final conclusion before various High Courts. According to data available from various High Courts, Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of pendency of cases under the POCSO Act, followed by Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal. The government of India presented this document to the Supreme Court this week. In Uttar Pradesh alone, over 30,000 cases of child sexual abuse are pending, while over 16,000 such cases are pending in Maharashtra. A close look at the data suggests that most cases are stuck at the stage of evidence or prosecution of evidence. A total of 80% of the total cases are stuck at the stage of evidence and experts and lawyers say that collecting and presenting evidence in these cases proved to be near impossible.