India, July 30 -- More than three out of every four pending rape trials in Tamil Nadu have breached the mandatory two-month timeline prescribed under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), the state police told the Madras high court on Wednesday, prompting it to issue directions to speed up rape and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act trials across the state.

In a report submitted to a bench of Chief Justice SA Dharmadhikari and Justice G in compliance with a court order, the state police chief said that 1,471 of the 1,916 rape trials (76.7%) pending before courts across the state have exceeded the statutory two-month period under Section 346(1) of the BNSS.

The statistics showed more than half of child sexua...