Pathanamthitta: The danger to children may not always come from strangers. In Kerala, most of the accused in POCSO cases registered last year were people known to the children, including family members, relatives, neighbours, friends and teachers. The figures from the Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights also show that even a child's own home was not always a safe place.

As many as 4,765 POCSO cases were registered in the state in 2025, involving 4,818 child survivors. Of them, 618 were boys and 154 were children with disabilities. Some cases involved more than one child survivor.

72% accused known to children
Of the 5,234 accused in these cases, 72% were people known to the children. They included people in romantic relationships with the children (16%), neighbours (11%), friends (9%), family members (9%), relatives (8%), teachers (2%) and people belonging to other known categories (17%). In 21% of the cases, it could not be established whether the accused had any connection with the child, while only 7% of the accused were strangers.

Home not always safe
The figures also show that the threat often came from familiar surroundings. In 22% of the cases, the sexual assault took place at the child's home, while in another 13%, the crime occurred at the accused's home.

The data also highlights the vulnerability of very young children. As many as 94 children aged below four were among those who survived sexual assault last year. Of the 4,818 child survivors, 94 were aged below four, 421 were aged five to nine, 1,566 were aged 10 to 14 and 2,666 were aged 15 to 18. The age of 71 survivors was not specified.