Rapists Convicted Under POCSO Shouldn't Be Allowed Mercy Plea: President

16 December 2012, when the humanity was shaken and the safety of women issue came into spot light though it was not the first brutal rape that took place but it was the first time India as a nation came together asking  Justice for Nirbhaya, one of India's brave girls  who fought for her life till her last breath. Nirbhaya case brought one more important thing in the sight and that needed to be reformed that Juvenile Justice Act because one of the rapists was a Juvenile and later act got attention in the public domain. In 2015, Juvenile Justice Amendment act passed in the Parliament and became a Law which allows minors in the age group of 16-18 to be tried as adults if they commit heinous crimes, The crime will be examined by the Juvenile Justice Board to ascertain if the crime was committed as a 'child ' or 'adult'. There should be strict actions in rape case so that people think a couple of times before doing something like this heinous crime irrespective of their ages. It has been almost Seven years since the incident took place and, the entire country had come out on roads. 

Recently on 6th of December, 2019 President Ram Nath Kovind at an event in Rajasthan's Sirohi said "Women safety is a serious issue and Rape convicts under POCSO Act should not have right to file mercy petition. Parliament should review mercy petition". The President's comments come at a time when the Home Ministry, in agreement with the Delhi government's recommendation to reject a mercy plea of one of the accused in the Nirbhaya's Gang-rape and murder case, forwarded to him. 

Just to give you all a reality check, mentioning some findings of  the National Crime Records Bureau's (NCRB) the Annual Crime Report 2017 in India. According to the NCRB report 2017, a total of 3,59,849 cases were reported against women in 2017. Out of this data a  total of 32,559 rapes were reported in 2017 in India. Madhya Pradesh has recorded the highest number of rape cases at 5,562 in 2017. Out of 32,559 reported cases, in 93.1 percent cases the accused were known to the victims, still constitutes a large percentage of all the cases reported.

NCRB also released report on Minor rape in India ,according to report,  17,557 the total number of child rape recorded in the country in 2017, Prevention of Children from Sexual Offenses against minors, was not invoked in more than 10,000 cases. this is a serious lacuna in our system, which needs to be taken cognizance by the state police chiefs. Invoking POCSO Act in FIRs of all cases of child rape is a legal requirement and any deviation from that must not be allowed, the provisions of the act should be enforced legally.

 It is very saddening that Rapes are taking place, women are being considered an object even after the Nirbhaya Case. A couple of days back, the Unnao rape victim succumbed to her injuries in Safdarjung Hospital and Nirbhaya's mother said that the system and her seven-year struggle have been defeated today. Still I have faith in the Judiciary system that Nirbhaya will SMILE in the Heaven when she will not find “ANOTHER NIRBHAYA in FUTURE”.