KOCHI: Supreme Court Judge Justice S Ravindra Bhat said that parents file POCSO cases to break their children's romantic relationships. He also pointed out that adolescent boys are imprisoned in such cases. There is a proposal to raise the age limit for POCSO cases from 18 to 16. Justice Ravindra Bhat said that further discussions should be held in this regard.

He was inaugurating the regional judicial conference organized under the auspices of the Kerala High Court on the issues of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), Juvenile Justice Act and prevention of drug use among children through video conferencing.

A recent study in Maharashtra found that 25% of POCSO cases were due to romantic relationships. He opined that such POCSO cases are overloading the courts. Around 200,000 POCSO cases are pending across the country. Kerala High Court Chief Justice S Manikumar presided over the opening ceremony of the two-day regional judicial conference at the Ernakulam Marriott Hotel.
Justice Alexander Thomas, Justice Shaji P Chaly and Justice Anu Sivaraman spoke. Then there was a discussion on various issues. Karnataka High Court Judge Justice KS Mudgal, former Bombay High Court Judge Justice Shalini Phansalkar Joshi, Andhra High Court Judge Justice D Ramesh and others spoke.

Supreme Court Judge Justice CT Ravikumar will inaugurate the closing session today at 11.45 am.