113 cases of child pornography go without FIR in Karnataka, HC seeks government’s response
BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court has sought a response from the state government regarding allegations that the police have not registered a single FIR though 113 instances of child pornography were reported in the state in 2018.
Observing that allegations of child pornography is a cognisable offence, a division bench of Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Pradeep Singh Yerur on Tuesday sought the response after the counsel of the petitioner — Bachpan Bachao Andolan, an NGO — submitted that the police have not registered the FIRs.
The counsel also said a special team comprising experts from cyber police needed to be set up to probe these cases.
In the PIL, the NGO pointed out that there were 113 victims, including 87 boys and 26 girls, of child pornography in Karnataka. They are all housed in state-run homes for children.
The petitioner also drew the court’s attention to the fact that the 113 cases in Karnataka in 2018 was the highest percentage (60 per cent) of reported victims of child pornography.
The High Court also registered a suo motu public interest litigation based on the directions issued by the Supreme Court on monitoring the implementation of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.
Last week, the court had sought the status of the investigation. However, the government advocate submitted that he had not received instruction from the officials concerned. The court adjourned the hearing to November 28.