Panaji, July 14, 2026
The Goa State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (GSCPCR), in collaboration with Goa Police, the Directorate of Prosecution and SCAN Goa’s Victim Assistance Unit (VAU), successfully conducted a two-part Capacity Building and Sensitisation Programme on the POCSO Act (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012), Child-Friendly Procedures, Victim Handling and Evidence Collection for police officers across Goa. The programme was held at Goa Reserve Police Camp, Altinho on June 20 and July11, 2026 to enable maximum participation of police officers from North and South Goa. The inaugural session was graced by Shri Chaurasiya, IPS, Inspector General of Police, Goa.
The initiative aimed to strengthen child-friendly policing by enhancing officers’ understanding of the POCSO Act, trauma-informed victim handling, evidence collection and documentation, and coordination among agencies involved in child protection. A key focus of the programme was improving the quality of investigations to support stronger prosecution and conviction in offences against children.
Sessions were conducted by Adv. Emidio Pinho, Coordinator, Victim Assistance Unit (SCAN Goa), and Adv. Cyndiana Silva, Adv. Tema Narvekar and Adv. Shilpa Nagvenkar from the Directorate of Prosecution, who shared practical insights from their work in victim assistance and prosecution. The concluding session, chaired by the GSCPCR, focused on strengthening coordination between police, prosecution, victim support services and other child protection agencies.
Women Police Officers from police stations across Goa and Members of the Child Welfare Committees participated in the programme. The Commission thanked Goa Police, the Directorate of Prosecution, SCAN Goa, the Child Welfare Committees and all resource persons for their support and reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening Goa’s child protection system through continued collaboration and capacity-building initiatives.
