South India gets its first children's court in Hyderabad

South India’s first children’s court being opened on the premises of Metropolitan Criminal Courts, Nampally in the city on Wednesday. The court is the third in the country, with one each in Delhi and Goa.

The court was jointly inaugurated by acting HC chief justice Ramesh Ranganathan and TS director general of police (DGP) Anurag Sharma. It was presided by T Rajani, Metropolitan Sessions judge, and Dr Soumya Misra, inspector general of police (IG), Crime Investigation Department.

“When compared to our existing court halls where children get intimidated easily and do not testify properly, the



children’s court is far better in providing a congenial environment”, said judge T Rajani. She called upon all judicial officers to make time from their regular proceedings and take the trouble of going to the basement (the location of the children’s court) and record the testimony of the children.

DGP Anurag Sharma said in most of the cases, the victim knows the accused. The children’s court would help the child in feeling less intimidated and open up in describing the incident, thus ensuring higher conviction rates for crimes under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), he added.