Centre allots 28 new POCSO courts to Kerala

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Minister KK Shylaja on Saturday said that the central ministry of Law and Justice had approved the establishment of 28 new fast track special POCSO courts in the state. Both the centre and state governments will collaborate to set up the POCSO courts.

The POCSO courts will handle exclusive cases registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. It is learnt that each cost will be set up at a cost of Rs 75 lakh which will be funded from the Nirbhaya Fund. The first instalment of Rs 6.3 crores has been sanctioned.

With the establishment of the new courts, Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur, Palakkad and Malappuram districts will get 3 POCSO courts, while Kottayam, Idukki, Ernakulam, Kollam, Kozhikode and Kannur districts will get two each. All the other districts will get one court each. The minister also made it clear that the government intends to set up 57 POCSO courts as per the plan.