Mangaluru: A child-friendly court to deal exclusively with cases pertaining to the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act was inaugurated on the sixth floor at the district court on Thursday, March 5.

With this, a long-pending demand of child rights’ activists has finally been realised. Kadloor Sathyanarayanacharya, Principal District and Sessions Judge and  Savithri V Bhat, Pocso Court judge jointly inaugurated this special court.

Bright pictures have been painted on the child-friendly court by the social welfare department. Former Family Court Judge Savithri V Bhat assumed charge as the POCSO court judge. Accordingly, heinous crimes against girls being heard in the Second Additional District and Sessions Court will be moved to the Special POCSO Court.

As many as 185 pending cases will now be heard in this court. Mangaluru Bar Association president N Narasimha Hegde and secretary H V Raghavendra said such POCSO courts are being set up in 17 other districts across the state.

Welcoming the move to set up a special court for POCSO District Child Welfare Committee Renny D’Souza said, “The cases will no longer be delayed and speedy delivery of justice will be assured to the victims. The child-friendly environment and the police personnel in plain clothes will pu the child victims at ease.”

It is said that initially, this special POCSO court was scheduled to be inaugurated in January. Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KSCPCR), in its reports submitted to the government years ago, had recommended the setting up of special POCSO courts and the need to make them child-friendly. The state government swung into action when the Supreme Court directed the Centre to set up special courts to deal exclusively with POCSO cases in 2019.