60 FIRs for child pornography registered in 2025 at instance of Delhi Police special unit

New Delhi, Dec 20 (PTI) As many as 60 FIRs related to child pornography and cyber sexual offences against minors have been registered in 2025 at the instance of the Special Police Unit for Women and Children (SPUWAC), according to official data.

In 2024, 136 such cases were registered based on inputs forwarded by the special unit, the data shows.

Officials said many of these cases stemmed from action taken on cyber tip-offs related to Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Material (CSEAM), which refers to online circulation of illegal content involving children.

The NCMEC Cell of SPUWAC is the designated Delhi unit responsible for handling cyber tipline reports linked to such content.

These reports are received from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), an US-based organisation, through the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre -- a central nodal agency responsible for coordinating cybercrime inputs across India.

All Cyber Tipline inputs are routed through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal. Upon receipt, the NCMEC Cell of SPUWAC carries out preliminary enquiries, which involve initial checks to assess the authenticity and gravity of the information.

Based on this examination, actionable inputs linked to specific police districts are developed and shared with district units, officials said.

On the basis of cyber tipline reports received through the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre regarding offenders involved in sharing child sexual abuse material on social media platforms, and with coordination from SPUWAC, 45 FIRs were registered across various districts of Delhi during November and December this year, officials said.

In December, additional cyber tipline inputs related to repeat offenders, including cases received in the form of Google supplemental files, were shared by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre. Acting on these inputs, SPUWAC and district police units registered seven additional FIRs.

Overall, coordinated action on cyber tiplines resulted in the registration of 52 FIRs across Delhi during the past two months.

Further investigation is underway in all cases, and legal and technical measures are being taken to ensure strict action against offenders, officials said.

Apart from child abuse-related matters, counselling remained a major function of the SPUWAC, officials said.

Counselling was undertaken in complaints related to dowry harassment, marital disputes, domestic discord and mental harassment, they added.

According to the data, SPUWAC received 3,578 such complaints since 2015 till December 19 this year.

During this period, police registered 976 FIRs when counselling did not suffice and criminal action was warranted, while 42 cases were registered under provisions of the Domestic Violence Act, officials said.

Between January 1 and December 15, 2025, SPUWAC took up 186 counselling-related matters.

Of these, 34 were resolved through reconciliation after counselling, while 6 cases were settled through mutual agreement, officials said.

In 27 cases, no action was taken as complainants or family members did not wish to proceed, while 2 cases were transferred to other districts, they added.

The data shows that 36 pending complaints from 2024 were carried forward into 2025, taking the total number of cases handled by SPUWAC during the year to 222.

According to the figures, all pending complaints from 2024 were disposed of, while 127 of the complaints registered in 2025 were also resolved, bringing the total number of cases disposed of during the year to 163, with 59 cases pending.

"The SPUWAC remains committed to the protection and promotion of the rights of women and children, and to shielding them from all forms of abuse through diligent investigation and prosecution of offenders," Deputy Commissioner of Police, SPUWAC, Anjitha Chepyala told PTI.

A designated nodal agency, SPUWAC will continue to collaborate with relevant stakeholders to ensure effective delivery of justice, she added.

Additionally, since 2002 till December 15 this year, 16,922 self-defence training programmes were organised across Delhi, including workshops conducted under SPUWAC, according to the data.

These programmes trained 30,09,298 women and girls over the years as part of community outreach and prevention efforts, police said.

In 2025, 4,13,004 women and girls were trained under such self-defence programmes, the highest annual figure recorded so far, they added. PTI SGV ARB ARB