The government has revealed some striking statistics on child pornography in Parliament. The Minister of Women and Child Development, Smriti Irani provided data for pornography, hosting, or publishing obscene sexual materials depicting children for the year 2018-2020.
She also shared the steps that the government is taking to tackle crime against children.
Sudden surge in Child Pornography Cases
The data suggests a sudden increase in child pornography cases in 2020. There were 738 cases registered, compared to 103 in 2019, and 44 in 2018.
Although the government has given no explanation for the sudden rise, the general trend has suggested an increase in cybercrimes in 2020.
The top 3 states that registered such cases were UP (161), Maharashtra (123), and Karnataka (122).
Less charge sheets, no conviction
Out of 738 cases registered in 738, the police were able to file charge sheets in only 272 cases. To date, the courts have completed trials in only 1 case. The number of convictions: 0.
If we compare that the data with 2019, 103 cases were registered that year. The police filed charge sheets in 58 of them. Even out of these 58 cases, courts have completed trials in only 2 cases, with 2 convictions. In those 2 cases, 4 people were convicted.
Going back to 2018 now, the police registered 44 cases of child pornography. The police, in 3 years’ time, has filed charge sheets in only 22 cases. However, again, out of these 22 cases, courts have only reached conviction in 1 case.
Please take note that the Ministry has not revealed how many cases ended in acquittal.
You can read the full press release here.
Do subscribe to our Telegram group for more resources and discussions on tech-law & policy. To receive weekly updates, don’t forget to subscribe to our Newsletter.