Recording the Child's Statement and Medical Examination

In one line

The child's statement is taken where he feels safe, by somebody he is not frightened of, in front of somebody he trusts, and never in the presence of the accused.

In exam wording: sections 24 to 27 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 prescribe the manner of recording the statement of a child by the police and by a Magistrate, additional provisions regarding that statement, and the medical examination of the child.

Why the law has this at all

Everything the prosecution has usually comes from the child, and the ordinary way of getting it destroys it.

A child taken to a police station, kept waiting, questioned by a uniformed man across a table, with his abuser somewhere in the building, will either say nothing or say whatever ends the ordeal fastest. And a statement obtained that way is worth little in court even if it is true, because it can be attacked as the product of the setting.

So Chapter VI moves every element of the process. The place: the child's own residence, or a place of his choice. The person: a woman police officer, not in uniform. The company: the parents, or anybody in whom the child has trust or confidence. The time: never overnight at a police station. And the accused is kept away entirely.

The most striking provision is the proviso to section 25(1). Under section 164 of the Code, an accused's advocate may in certain circumstances be present when a statement is recorded. POCSO switches that off. The child gives his statement to the Magistrate without the accused's lawyer in the room.

Some words this chapter uses

As spoken by the child, in sections 25(1) and 26(1), means recorded in the child's own words, not summarised or translated into the language of a police report.

Section 164 of the Code is the Magistrate's power to record confessions and statements; the corresponding provision of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita is section 183.

Section 164A of the Code is the medical examination of a victim of rape; the corresponding provision of the Sanhita is section 184.

Section 24: recording by the police

Sub-section (1), place and person. The statement of the child shall be recorded at the residence of the child, or at a place where he usually resides, or at the place of his choice, and as far as practicable by a woman police officer not below the rank of sub-inspector.

Sub-section (2). The police officer, while recording the statement, shall not be in uniform.

Sub-section (3). The police officer making the investigation shall, while examining the child, ensure that at no point of time the child comes into contact in any way with the accused.