Important Information about POCSO Act

India has nearly a population of 472 million children below the age of eighteen, out of which 225 million are girls. Protection of children by the state is guaranteed to Indian citizens by an expansive reading of Article 21 of the Indian constitution, and also mandated given India's status as signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Child sexual abuse laws in India have been enacted as part of the nation's child protection policies. The necessity for a legal remedy is evident given that nearly 24 per cent of all children have suffered sexual abuse, and half of these were at the hands of persons in the position of trust. The children are vulnerable as they are innocent and are not aware about the predators. In order to provide them protection, the Parliament of India passed the 'Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences Bill, 2011' regarding child sexual abuse on 22 May 2012 into an Act. The rules formulated by the government in accordance with the law have also been notified on the November 2012.

The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 was enacted to provide a robust legal framework for the protection of children from offences of sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography, while safeguarding the interest of the child at every stage of the judicial process. The framing of the Act seeks to put children first by making it easy to use by including mechanisms for child-friendly reporting, recording of evidence, investigation and speedy trial of offences through designated Special Courts. These special courts are special session courts. Hence the POCSO cases are tried in session court (given special charge).  

This Act provides for a variety of offences under which an accused can be punished. It recognises forms of penetration other than penile-vaginal penetration and criminalises acts of immodesty against children too. The act is gender-neutral. With respect to pornography, the Act criminalises even watching or collection of pornographic content involving children. The Act makes abetment of child sexual abuse an offence. It also provides for various procedural reforms, making the tiring process of trial in India considerably easier for children. The Act defines a child as a person under the age of 18 years. However, this definition is a purely biological one, and doesn't take into account people who live with intellectual and psycho-social disability.

The POCSO Act was passed to strengthen legal provisions for the protection of children below 18 years of age from sexual abuse and exploitation. Under this Act, if any girl under 18 is seeking abortion the service provider is compelled to register a complaint of sexual assault with the police. However, under the MTP Act, it is not mandatory to report the identity of the person seeking an abortion. Consequently, service providers are hesitant to provide abortion services to girls under 18. For more detailed information an individual can go through the following link:-

http://wcd.nic.in/sites/default/files/POCSO-ModelGuidelines.pdf

Now the Union Cabinet on 28^th December 2018, approved amendments to strengthen the POCSO Act and included the death penalty for aggravated sexual assault on children, besides providing stringent punishments for other crimes against those below 18 years of age. Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said children should be protected from sexual offences and the Cabinet has approved amendments to various sections of The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act to achieve this.

Mr. Prasad said to media persons that the amendments to sections 4, 5, 6, 9, 14, 15 and 42 of the POCSO Act, 2012, are made to address child sexual abuse in an appropriate manner. An official statement said sections 4, 5 and 6 of the Act are proposed to be amended to provide the option of stringent punishment, including the death penalty, for committing aggravated penetrative sexual assault on a child. It said these amendments are aimed at discouraging the trend of child sexual abuse by acting as a deterrent. The Act defines child as any person below the age of 18 years. It is a gender-neutral legislation, it said.

The amendments are also proposed to the section 9 of the Act to protect children from sexual offences in times of natural calamities and disasters and in cases where children are administered, in any way, any hormone or any chemical substance, to attain early sexual maturity for the purpose of penetrative sexual assault, it said. Sections 14 and 15 of the POCSO Act, 2012 are also proposed to be amended to address the menace of the child pornography. It is proposed to levy fine for not destroying or deleting or reporting the pornographic material involving a child, the statement said. The offender can be further penalized with jail term or fine or both for transmitting propagating administrating such material in any manner except for the purpose of reporting as may be prescribed and for use as evidence in court. “Penal provisions have been made more stringent for  storing/possessing any pornographic material in any form involving a child for commercial purpose,” the official statement said. These amendments are made to address the need for stringent measures required to deter the rising trend of child sex abuse in the country.