Bhubaneswar: Odisha topped among states in maximum number of child pornography cases in 2018.
A total of 333 incidents of child porn usage and storage were reported in Odisha, according to the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data. Bihar stood second with 177 cases.
Under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act’s Section 14, whoever uses a child for pornography is punished with imprisonment of either description which may extend up to five years and is liable to fine.
Under Section 15, any person who stores any pornographic material in any form involving a child for commercial purposes is punished with imprisonment of either description which may extend to three years or with fine or with both.
Odisha also recorded a large number of child rape cases. NCRB report showed 1,427 child rapes and 1,431 children as victims of sexual offence.
The state, however, has seen a drop in rapes, from 2070 in 2017 to 918 cases in 2018.
Odisha also registered maximum number of cases related to assaults on women. Around 5,829 cases under Section 354 of IPC were registered in 2018.
