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Laws for protection from child abuse are once again in question after the observation of High Court of Kerala on a bail granted to POCSO accused by a sessions Court in Kerala. Recently, bail was granted to the accused of rape of minor so that he can prevent his divorce by Thrissur sessions court. Matter was taken upto the High Court of Kerala and it quashed the order of the lower Court. But unlike other legal matters, it has raised the serious concerns regarding prevention from child abuse. The accused came under the ambit of Protection of Child from Sexual Offences (POCSO), 2012. Even after being an accused of such a serious offence, providing bail was not legally wrong. Other than quashing the bail, High Court of Kerala has made certain observations in this regard. It observed that existing laws to prevent child abuse are not sufficient and even the conviction is not much, offenders are not penalised enough. The matter was heard by Justice PB Suresh Kumar and he observed that, "Violence against children violates the dignity and rights of children and robs them of the joys of childhood. Child abuses and sexual offences are widespread across the country, impacting children of all ages".
The accused of the child abuse is Gopakumar who was a teacher and a NCC instructor in a school in Thrissur. According to the state police, he abused a girl child sexually after taking her to the NCC room and locking her inside. The bail granted to the accused for preventing his divorce was even before the statements of witnesses were recorded. This decision of bail was appealed to the High Court because the prosecution felt that, granting bail to the accused of a case of such a nature when the matter was still at the stage of investigation, can affect the case.
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