Mumbai: A month after the Mumbai police set up a dedicated Protection of Children against Sexual Offences (POCSO) unit in every police station, there has been a 42 per cent spurt in detection rates. A total of 98 POCSO cases were registered in the city in the span of one month, between November 17 and December 17, with 41 cases detected. Earlier, the detection rate was below 35 per cent.

According to a police source, the initiative to start a POCSO unit at police stations had been taken by Mumbai Police Commissioner Datta Padsalgikar in order to curb child abuse cases. The POCSO unit comprises of a police team that has been trained to dig out facts and figures of the cases. On an average, the city police registers four complaints a day related to the crimes falling under the POCSO Act.

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data indicates that there has been a 40 per cent rise in the POCSO cases registered in 2016 when compared to the corresponding figures in 2015. In 2013, 422 cases were registered, while 2014 saw 678 cases, 2015 had 908 cases, 1346 cases in 2016, which makes it a total of 3,354 cases in the last four years.

These cases were registered under section 376 of the Indian Penal Code and under sections 4, 8 and 12 of the POCSO Act.

The POCSO unit will have a woman constable present at the police station round-the-clock, to register and work on the POCSO cases.