Special courts will help deal with cases sensitively …….Shibu Thomas | TNN
Mumbai: Child rights activists and lawyers have welcomed the state governments move to set up special courts to try cases involving crimes against children. The experts say that a greater degree of sensitivity is needed when taking the testimony of children who are victims of crime and such courts can show proficience in the task.
It was long overdue, said advocate Yug Choudhary of the move to set up childrens courts. Choudhary represented children in the Anchorage paedophilia case, in which British nationals Duncan Grant and Allan Waters were ultimately acquitted.
The prosecution of an offence committed against a child is different from other criminal trials, given the special nature of evidence, said Choudhary. Greater sensitivity on the part of the presiding judge is required while recording and appreciating the evidence of a child victim or witness, said the advocate. The Supreme Court in a series of judgments laid down guidelines on how to record the testimony of a child victim. Judges are allowed to restrict direct examination of the child by a lawyer and can interpret questions and put them to the child in simpler language. A child witness may also be prevented by means of a screen from seeing and being seen by the accused.
Special measures such as these are necessary, activists say, to prevent child witnesses from being threatened or coerced. This is especially so, they say, since 10% to 15% of rape cases that come up before the Sessions Court involve victims who are minors. In abuse cases, it is very difficult for child victims to find the language to explain to the court the violence that they suffered at the hands of the accused, said another lawyer, who has assisted the court in child abuse cases.
One of the other benefits of a special court is a quicker trial. If the case comes up in court for trial following some passage of years, the child may have grown up and would probably find it difficult to recollect the incident in detail, said criminal lawyer Mahesh Sharma.
One of the other benefits of a special court is a quicker trial. If the case comes up in court for trial following some passage of years, the child may have grown up and would probably find it difficult to recollect the incident in detail, said criminal lawyer Mahesh Sharma.
According to Choudhary, the state governments move to designate special childrens courts should be taken a step further by enacting laws to codify procedures. The government should look at the legal procedures in other countries like England and Autralia and consider measures like recording of evidence of a child witness through video-conferencing and ensuring the presence of a counsellor during such trials, said the lawyer.
He added, Judges designated to preside over the special courts for children should also be given special training and familiarised with the Supreme Court guidelines.
NO MINOR MATTER: Boys from the Anchorage Shelter in Colaba were called to give testimony in the paedophilia case