Shimla: A Kinnaur court’s decision to sentence two men to 20 years in prison each for raping a minor has again highlighted the serious nature of crimes against children in Himachal Pradesh. The Additional District and Sessions Court, Rampur, which functions as a POCSO court, also fined both convicts ₹10,000 each in the case.
The case came to light as Himachal Pradesh Police data showed a sharp rise in rape cases involving minors under the POCSO Act during the first quarter of 2026. The figures also show why crime data from different periods and categories needs careful comparison.
Sharp Rise in POCSO Cases During Q1 2026
Himachal Pradesh Police recorded 49 cases of rape involving minors under the POCSO Act between January 1 and March 31, 2026. Police recorded five such cases during the same period in 2025.
The 2026 figure reached 9.8 times the 2025 figure, marking an 880% increase.
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District-wise, Sirmaur recorded the highest number with 13 cases. Chamba followed with seven, while Kullu recorded six and Shimla five. Kangra and Police District Baddi recorded four cases each.
Bilaspur recorded three cases. Solan, Hamirpur, Una and Police District Nurpur recorded two cases each, while Police District Dehra recorded one. Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti recorded no such cases during the period.
Police also recorded five cases involving sexual harassment of minors during the first quarter of 2026, compared with none during the same period in 2025. Police said they took action in such cases and continued awareness programmes in schools and other educational institutions.
The latest Kinnaur case adds a court outcome to this wider picture. The court examined evidence and statements from 15 witnesses before finding the accused guilty and sentencing them.
Why Older Crime Figures Need Careful Comparison
Other crime figures from Himachal Pradesh cover different periods and categories, so they do not always allow a direct comparison.
For example, one earlier report cited 242 rape cases during the whole of 2023 and 210 cases from January to August 2024. The 2023 figure covers 12 months, while the 2024 figure covers only eight months. Therefore, these numbers cannot directly show a year-on-year rise or fall.
Himachal Police’s Crime Trends records show 397 rape cases for the whole of 2025 and 211 cases up to July 31, 2026. A separate police table on crimes against women lists 213 rape cases for 2026. Both 2026 figures cover only part of the year, and the two police tables show a small difference in their totals.
A separate Assembly reply gave another view of the issue. It listed 1,287 rape cases during the three-year period ending July 31, 2026, along with 4,379 crimes against women. The reply said 66 cases ended in conviction, 219 ended in acquittal and 775 remained pending in courts.
These figures show different aspects of crime in the state. The latest POCSO data points to a sharp rise in rape cases involving minors during the first quarter of 2026, while the other datasets cover longer periods or broader categories.
The Kinnaur conviction also shows that individual cases can move through the criminal justice system even as statewide statistics capture a much larger picture.
For this reason, the figures need to be read according to their time period, offence category and source rather than combined into a single statewide trend.
