Sexual Offences against Minors

The children of every nation are very important and critical assets. Over 430 millions children who are the future of the country, are considered to be an essential pillar for the development of the nation. Children are gullible,vulnerable and could be easily exploited, they could face mental, physical, emotional, psychological or sociological abuse not only from strangers but also from their own family relations or friends. In many child abuse cases, it is seen that abuse is mostly caused by the relatives or friends of the child or minors. 

Child abuse in India- 

Child sexual abuse is the kind of evil which is present there in the society, however is not frequently talked about or discussed. The results of the child abuse could be disastrous as it affects the mental health of the child in the long run, could affect his personality or could negatively impact the growth of the child.

It has been reported that one in every ten children is sexually abused before he turned 18. The main issue with the child abuse is that in many case the child is too young to understand the nature of the crime committed against him/her, while in some case the guardians themselves keep quite about the issue due to social pressure.

Forms of sexual abuse-

• Physical-  Secxal intent of touching and kissing is considered a physical abuse.
• Non-Physical- Actions such as showing pornography to a child, any gesture like being lewd, verbal abuse, playing games with sexual theme, and things like stalking and chatting with sexual content, etc.  are also considered a kind of sexual abuse.
• Incest- incest refers to the forbidden sexual relationship between close relatives of a family such as brother, sister, parent, etc. 
• Commercial sexual exploitation of children- it could be referred to as when an adult abuses a child sexually in lieu of remuneration. Here, in this case the victim is used as sexual object. It could be in the form of child prostitution, child sex tourism and child trafficking.
• Online sexual abuse- over the internet, the act of sexual abuse could be through social networking sites, playing online games or through mobile phones. Young people nowadays are facing situations such as cyberbullying, grooming, sexuazl exploitation or emotional abuse.

POCSO- Protection of Children Against Sexual offences Bill, 2011

The POCSO Act was passed by the government of India on 22 May, 2012 to provide a legal frqamework for the protection of children from the offences of sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography and ensuring the interests of the child at every stage of the judicial process.

Before the POCSO Act- 

• The only specific legal provision in relation to the sexual offences against children was the Goa Children’s Act, 2003.
• The sexual crimes against children were dealt under the following provisions-

1. 375 of IPC, 1860- rape- does not protectr the male victims
2. 354 of IPC, 1860- outraging the modesty of a woman- it carries a weak penalty, and also does not protect the “modesty” of a child.
3. 377 of IPC,1860- unnatural offences- does not define the unnatural offences. Was not designed to criminqalise the sexual abuse of children.

POCSO Act- Offences-

Under the new Act of POCSO, a variety of offences have been mentioned under which an accused could be punished. These include- 

• Penetrative sexual Assault- insertion of penis/another part of the body/any object in child’s vagina/urethra/anus/mouth, or to ask the child to do so.
• Sexual assault- if a person touches a child, or if he makes a child to touch him oe any other third person.
• Sexual Harrassment- Passing any sexually coloured remark, sexual gesture, repeatedly following or flashing, etc.
• Child pornography
• Aggravated sexual assault

Features of the Act-

• Definition of a child- According to the Act, a child is a person under the age of 18 years. 
• In contradiction to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971- According to the Act, if a girl under the age of 18 seeks for abortion, it is mandatory for the service provider to register a complaint of sexual assault with the police, however under the Act of 1975 it is not mandatory to report the identity of the person going for abortion. Thus, there is a contradiction between  the two laws.
• Mandatory reporting- a person having information regarding a child abuse, if fails to inform the authorities could face imprisonment for a period of six moths or may be fined or both. Thus, under this Act, it is mandatory for every crime of child abuse to be reported.
• Legal aid- Under Section 40 of the POCSO Act, the victim can file for access to legal aid, however subjected to the provisions of the CrPC, thus the lawyer of the child could only assist the public prosecutor.

India has the largest population of children in the world, i.e approx. 472 million children below 18. The protection of children has been provided under the Article 21 of the Constitution of India. However, not only the state is responsible to ensure protection to children, but also the duty of every responsible citizen of the country to ensure that a child in their vicinity is not suffering from any kind of wrong.

Lead India offers you a responsible and experienced team of advocates who understand the importance of a safe and secure environment for the children and have been successfully dealing with cases related to criminal law and thus, could offer you assistance as well as legal advice for the same.