The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has cautioned that the POCSO law, meant to protect children from sexual offences, must not be turned into a weapon for adults’ personal vendettas. The court said childhood should not become a battlefield for revenge, and stressed that the law’s purpose includes safeguarding a child’s dignity, education and psychological well-being.
The observations came while hearing four separate petitions seeking to quash POCSO cases registered in Trichy, Thoothukudi, Pudukkottai and Usilampatti. After examining the records, Justice L. Victoria Gowri noted indications that false complaints were allegedly engineered by using minor girls amid family disputes, property issues, threats by lawyers and village enmity.
In the Trichy matter involving a doctor, the court referred to a counsellor’s report indicating the complaint was made under alleged intimidation and instigation by a woman lawyer, and also noted irregularities in the lawyer’s Kerala Bar Council registration certificate. An interim stay was granted on further proceedings in that case.
The court quashed the Thoothukudi case after finding the child was allegedly forced to complain due to family hostility, and directed the government to provide rehabilitation and continuous counselling to the minor. It also quashed the Pudukkottai case, observing that POCSO was misused amid a marital dispute to “teach a lesson” to the husband, keeping the child’s future in mind.
In the Usilampatti case, the court found the complaint arose from prior village rivalry and was filed as a counter-complaint. It criticised the All Women Police Station for acting mechanically without proper scrutiny, quashed the case, and ordered an inquiry against those who filed the false complaint.
The judge further directed the Tamil Nadu government to conduct a statewide training programme titled “Singappen Awareness Workshop”. The programme, to be run by the Home Department along with the Social Welfare and Law Departments, should cover POCSO provisions, child psychology, dignified handling of children, proper investigation and dealing with false complaints for officers from SP rank to women police personnel, as well as district social welfare officers and Child Welfare Committee members.
