Kerala High Court Calls For Formulation Of Schemes For Psychiatric Treatment Of POCSO Offenders, Sex Therapy For Victims

The Kerala High Court has issued a slew of directions to the State authorities regarding the handling of minor victims of sexual abuse, the provision of treatment including psycho therapy for prisoners accused of committing offences under the POCSO Act, and sex therapy for the victims/survivors of sexual assault. 

The Single Judge Bench of Justice Gopinath P. issued the directions taking note of the report by the Project Co-Ordinator of the Victim Rights Centre (VRC) Advocate A. Parvathi Menon, whose intervention had been sought by the Court in a bail plea by a 19 year old alleged to have sexually abused his minor sister.

The directions issued by the Court are as follows:

I. The Court directed the Secretary of the State Higher Education Department, and the Secretary of the State General Education Department to formulate instructions to be issued to all schools and care homes to sensitize its teachers, staff, and caregivers regarding handling and treatment of victims of sexual abuse while studying or lodged in such institutions. It added that the instructions ought to be prepared in consultation with the Member Secretary of the Kerala Legal Services Authority (KeLSA), and the Project Co-ordinator of VRC. Importantly, the Court has cautioned that the instructions ought to ensure that victims of sexual abuse are not identified or treated in any manner differently from other students in the school; 

II. It directed KeLSA, the Department of Health Services of the State, and the Department of Social Justice of the State to formualte a scheme, with expert guidance, for providing treatment including intense psycho therapy /pharmacological intervention/psychiatric treatment if found necessary to the inmates in Prisons and Correctional Homes accused of having committed offences under the POCSO Act, which is to be implemented in collaboration with the Director General of Police ( Prisons) in all Prisons and Correctional Homes in all prisons in the State, in a bid to reduce recidivism of such gruesome offences to a reasonable extent; 

III. Lastly, the Secretary, Department of Social Justice of the State has been directed to formulate a Scheme in consultation with the Department of Health Services, and KeLSA for extending scientifically based sex therapy to the survivors/victims of sexual assault in order to help them lead a normal life on rehabilitation and to enable their reintegration into the main stream of the society. 

The petitioner, who is the elder brother of the minor victim, was alleged to have committed penetrative sexual assault on the latter, and thereby charged with various offences under the POCSO Act, IPC, and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (JJ Act).

Petitioner's counsel claimed that in was on account of petitioner's violent behaviour after consuming drugs that a false case had been foisted on him. 

Public Prosecutor G. Sudheer however opposed the bail application, arguing that the investigation had revealed the allegations against the petitioner to be true, and that a final report had been filed implicating him in the matter and hence, it might not be conducive to grant him bail at this point. 

It is at this juncture that the Court sought the assistance of the Project Co-ordinator of VRC, Advocate Menon. 

Advocate Menon in her report, stated that the victim required immense emotional support, and that the minor girl had been feeling guilty that her family had scattered due to her complaint against her brother. 

The mother of the petitioner-accused and victim, and the victim herself had also affirmed the petitioner's severe anger issues. 

The Court noted that Advocate Menon's interactions with the petitioner revealed that he could not be characterised as a drug addict, although he had a history of substance abuse, and that he did not exhibit any kind of withdrawal syndrome while severe anger issues were displayed. She advised against family integration, considering that the offender and victim were both members of the same family, and made the suggestions for sensitization, sex therapy, and medical care including psychiatric treatment, on the basis of which the directions mentioned hereinbefore were issued by the Court. 

The Court thereby proceeded to grant bail to the petitioner, on taking note that he had been in custody since May 2023, and that his further custody was not required, considering that the investigation had been completed and the final report had also been filed. 

The plea was thus disposed. 

The petitioner was represented by Advocates P. Samsudin, Milan Rachel Mathew, and Nasrin Wahab. 

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Ker) 19

Case Title: XX v. State of Kerala & Ors.