New Delhi, Sept. 24 -- The Supreme Court on Thursday directed police and courts to carefully vet Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act complaints against husbands or their family members in matrimonial disputes, and ordered that a child psychiatrist interact with the victim before arrest in cases where there is no "palpable" material against the accused.

The court felt the need to introduce this safeguard after it came across a case from Bengaluru where a mother filed a case under the Pocso Act against her husband after she lost a bitter and prolonged custody battle.

A bench of justices JB Pardiwala and KV Viswanathan said, "We are observing an alarming trend that is on the rise where one parent misuses the legal provi...