Ahmedabad, Feb 28 (NationPress) Courts in Gujarat’s Amreli, Vadodara, and Rajkot have handed down life sentences to seven individuals convicted under the POCSO Act.

In Amreli, charges were filed in two separate cases within merely 17 days, with one suspect apprehended on the same day as the incident.

In Rajkot, the charge sheet was submitted in less than 40 days, while in the Vadodara case, it was filed in just seven days.

Robust forensic evidence, technical analysis, and witness accounts were pivotal in achieving these convictions.

In the meantime, the Gujarat Home Minister commended the state’s judiciary and law enforcement after the courts in Amreli, Vadodara, and Rajkot imposed life sentences for seven distinct POCSO offenses.

“To combat the increasing incidents of POCSO and rape cases in recent years, the Gujarat government has escalated efforts for prompt legal actions,” he stated.

Special courts in Gujarat have recorded 947 convictions in POCSO cases over the last three years.

Among these, 574 offenders received life sentences, and 11 were condemned to death. The stringent legal framework aims to deter criminals and provide justice for victims.

Gujarat has seen a notable surge in cases filed under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in recent years.

In 2014, the state documented 613 cases, which surged to 2,443 by 2021, indicating a staggering 398.5 percent increase over the eight-year span.

However, the conviction rate remains worryingly low. Out of 14,522 cases logged between 2014 and 2021, merely 231 led to convictions, equating to an alarming 1.59 percent conviction rate.

As of March 2023, Gujarat had 5,429 POCSO cases awaiting resolution in its courts.

In 2021 alone, Gujarat reported 2,060 child rape cases under the POCSO Act, the highest number recorded in the previous three years.