Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state in the country, has 67,200 pending cases of heinous crimes against children, the highest among all states. This is almost 28% of all pending cases booked under the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act.
To spare a sexually abused child from further harassment of court proceedings, amendments made to the Pocso Act provide for all trials to be completed in a time-bound manner in special fast-track courts (FTCs) set up specifically for this purpose across the country.
Maharashtrahas the second highest number of pending cases at 33,000, followed by West Bengal with 22,100; Bihar 16,000; Odisha 12,000 and and Madhya Pradesh with 10,000 cases each.
Delhi (with 9,108 pending cases),Rajasthan(8,921),Assam(6,875),Haryana(4,688) andJharkhand(4,408) figure among the top 13 states with large pendency of cases.