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WCD to move proposal to amend POCSO Act
Why it is in news?
- The Women and Child Development (WCD) Ministry is set to move a proposal before the Cabinet for enhanced punishment in cases of sexual assault of male children.
- The Law Ministry has cleared the proposal to amend the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 for enhancing punishment in cases of sexual assault against young boy.
- Amendments to the POCSO Act for enhanced punishment for sexual assaults of young boys have been approved by the Law Ministry.
- It will be sent to the Cabinet in two-three days, the WCD Ministry
- The Ministry was working on the proposal to amend the Act to award death penalty to those convicted of raping children below 12 years.
- The move is being seen as an effort to bring in a gender-neutral law while dealing with cases of sexual assaults.
- Earlier, WCD Minister Maneka Gandhi had supported a petition on Change.org by filmmaker-activist Insia Dariwala, who said, “male child sexual abuse is an ignored reality in India”.
- Boys who are sexually abused as children spend a lifetime in silence.
Salient Features of the Act
- This act is applicable to the whole of India and provides protection to children under the age of 18 years against sexual offences.
- Definition of sexual abuse – penetrative and non-penetrative assault, as well as sexual harassment and pornography, and deems a sexual assault to be “aggravated” under certain circumstances, such as when the abused child is mentally ill or when the abuse is committed by a person in a position of trust or authority vis-a-vis the child, like a family member, police officer, teacher, or doctor.
- It has raised the age of consensual sex from 16 years as per Indian Penal Code, 1860 to 18 years. This means that –
- Any person (including a child) can be prosecuted for engaging in a sexual act with a child irrespective of whether the latter consented.
- A husband or wife can be prosecuted for engaging in a sexual act with his or her spouse under the age of eighteen years.
- The burden of proof lies on the accussed – punishment has been provided for false complaints or false information with malicious intent.
- People who traffic children for sexual purposes are also punishable under the provisions relating to abetment in the Act.
- In keeping with the best international child protection standards, the Act also casts a legal duty upon a person who has knowledge that a child has been sexually abused to report the offence; if he fails to do so, he may be punished with six months’ imprisonment and/ or a fine.
- The Act also casts the police in the role of child protectors and are given the responsibility of making urgent arrangements for the care and protection of the child, such as obtaining emergency medical treatment for the child and placing the child in a shelter home, should the need arise.
- The police are also required to bring the matter to the attention of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) within 24 hours of receiving the report, so the CWC may then proceed where required to make further arrangements for the safety and security of the child.
- The Act also makes provisions for the medical examination of the child designed to cause as little distress as possible. The examination is to be carried out in the presence of the parent or other person whom the child trusts, and in the case of a female child, by a female doctor.
- The Act further makes provisions for avoiding the re-victimisation of the child at the hands of the judicial system. It provides for special courts that conduct the trial in-camera and without revealing the identity of the child, in a manner that is as child-friendly as possible.
- The Special Court can determine the amount of compensation to be paid to a child who has been sexually abused for the child’s medical treatment and rehabilitation.
- The Act stipulates that a case of child sexual abuse must be disposed of within one year from the date the offence is reported.
Source
The Hindu