Thiruvananthapuram: Despite the recommendations of two previous state police chiefs, the Home department of the Kerala government has not taken any steps regarding the formation of a special police department to investigate  POCSO cases being reported in the state. The senior cops had made the recommendations in line with the instructions of the Supreme Court to complete the investigations of POCSO cases in a time bound manner.    

The demand for forming a special department for investigating POCSO cases is not being fulfilled due to the financial crisis the state. 

In 2019, Lokanath Behera, Director General of Police of Kerala, recommended the state government to form a special investigation team under an IG to deal with POCSO cases. At least 478 officers had to be earmarked for the purpose.

However, citing the practical difficulties in finding the resources for putting together such a big team, the Home Department asked to revise the recommendation and resubmit it. 

Amidst the proceedings, Behera retired from the position and Anil Kant assumed office in his place. He revised the recommendation and put forth a suggestion for forming a department with basic staff strength of 341 members. It was also proposed to reassign duties to officials from other departments and by giving additional responsibilities to a few officers as well to meet the required staff strength

Unfortunately, the efforts did not yield results. The Home Department had pointed out that at least Rs 22 crores will be required annually for running a special department for dealing with POCSO cases.   

In a year, over 3,000 POCSO cases are reported in Kerala. Currently, there are about 10,000 ongoing cases in various courts across the state.