A decade of POCSO cases in Telangana: Over half remain pending trial as judicial backlog delays justice

Published 11 July 2026 · local

When a special POCSO court in Hyderabad sentenced a gymnastics and karate coach to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment on June 17 for sexually assaulting

When a special POCSO court in Hyderabad sentenced a gymnastics and karate coach to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment on June 17 for sexually assaulting a three-and-a-half-year-old girl inside a school's premises, it also highlighted another disturbing reality: it took six years for the child survivor to get justice. The victim, a student of a private school in Miyapur, was sexually assaulted on June 27, 2019. The accused, Kura Kiran Sai, was convicted by the Special Court for Trial and Disposal of Rape and POCSO Act cases after a trial that stretched for six years, despite the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act being enacted to ensure speedy investigation and trial. The case is far from an exception. Official Telangana Police data accessed by The Hindu shows that more than half of all POCSO cases registered in the State over the past decade are yet to reach a verdict, exposing a criminal justice system struggling under mounting pendency despite statutory provisions for speedy trials. Between January 1, 2016 and June 30, 2026, Telangana registered 31,117 cases under the POCSO Act. Of these 16,348 cases, or 52.54%, remain pending trial, while another 2,863 cases (9.20%) are still under investigation. Legal experts say the backlog stems largely from the absence of exclusive POCSO courts and judicial officers dedicated solely to trying child sexual abuse cases.

“Judges assigned to hear POCSO matters simultaneously handle a range of criminal and civil cases, leaving limited time for day-to-day hearings. Rather than merely designating existing judicial officers to hear POCSO cases, the judiciary should establish dedicated Special Courts with judges exclusively tasked with trying offences under the Act,” said Hyderabad-based advocate Immaneni Rama Rao. Advocate P.V. Krishnamachary seconded. “If judicial officers were dealing exclusively with POCSO matters, disposal would have been much faster and child survivors would receive closure much earlier,” he said. The POCSO Act, enacted in 2012, mandates the establishment of Special Courts to ensure speedy trials in cases involving child sexual abuse. Separately, the Department of Justice launched the Centrally Scheme for Fast Track Special Courts in October 2019 following the enactment of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018, sanctioning 1,023 Fast Track Special Courts across the country, including 389 Exclusive POCSO Courts, to expedite the trial of rape and POCSO cases. The data also reflects the limited number of convictions secured over the past decade. Of the total cases, only 1,053 cases, or 3.41%, have ended in conviction. Overall, 11,043 cases have otherwise been disposed of by courts, while another 831 cases were disposed by the police following investigation. Police may close a POCSO case only after concluding during investigation that no offence was committed or that there is insufficient evidence to prosecute, following which a closure or cancellation report is filed before the court instead of a chargesheet.