Three-fold increase in POCSO, harassment cases in lockdown, says Chennai forensic lab

The high-tech Chennai Forensic laboratory has registered a three-fold increase in the cases under Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act as well as women’s harassment during the lockdown period as compared to before the lockdown. Speaking to IANS, a senior official with Chennai Forensic Lab said, “There has been a three-fold rise in the number of POCSO and women’s harassment cases that have come to us since lockdown. While we had recorded around 15 cases per month related to POCSO and women’s harassment before the lockdown, it jumped to 50 cases in the same period during lockdown."

It is to be noted that the reports of the high-tech lab have helped the police convict the perpetrators of the crimes. Although there are several open-source software available in the market to detect cybercrimes, including harassment of women and children, data provided by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are admissible in the courts.

The official said that the Chennai Forensic laboratory had procured these tools a couple of years before using the support from Tamil Nadu Innovative Initiative (TANII).

The officials said that the Chennai laboratory uses the Universal Forensic Extraction Device (UFED) that also retrieves deleted files, even from damaged phones. According to scientists, this method can retrieve deleted files with the tools creating a bit-by-bit replica of all the files in the phone, including hidden files in subfolders.

The police have been extensively using the support of the Chennai Forensic Laboratory for retrieving deleted files as several accused of stalking and child abuse delete these files when they feel that they are under the radar.

A senior officer of Tamil Nadu Police, while speaking to IANS, said, "The stalkers used to delete the abusive messages and nude photos that they have forwarded to the victims but with UFED technology, we had retrieved most of these files and the stalkers were given a jail term."

However, Chennai Forensic Laboratory officials and scientists said that the lab requires regular updating as mobile manufacturers are continuously changing their technology and using the latest Operating systems. The officials said that the forensic laboratory was also doing detailed research to upgrade themselves to face the challenges.