PALAKKAD: The children are having an insecure life in Palakkad, it seems. The cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act have registered a steady rise in the district in the last three years. Compared to last year, there was a three-fold rise in the cases till April 20 this year. According to a document collected by RTI activist and teacher P. Rajeev Keralassery for the district court in Palakkad, the total number of cases in 2016 was 136. It rose to 188 in 2017 and 148 till April 20.

It may be recalled that the accused in the POCSO case, Mankunnath Moideen Kutty, 60, who sexually abused a minor girl in a theatre in Malappuram, is a resident of Thrithala in Palakkad. The child and her mother also lived in a rental house owned by Kutty at Thrithala. “I filed an RTI to get the details of POCSO cases as there were a number of incidents in the district. The Child Welfare Committee and Childline do not conduct awareness classes to children and the parents to prevent such crimes,” Rajeev said.

Police sources at Thrithala said that they had come under pressure from different quarters and even from the family of the child to hush up the case. POCSO special public prosecutor in Thrissur Pious Mathew said, “I think the Childline and the committee are conducting awareness classes, but more focus needs to be given to such classes in schools.” He said the POCSO cases in Thrissur district had also increased like in Palakkad in the past three years.