POCSO Act

Why in news?

• The Supreme Court on 18^th November 2021 quashed a Bombay High Court decision to acquit a man charged with assault under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) solely on the grounds that he groped the child over her clothes without ‘skin-to-skin’ contact.
• The Supreme Court held that “sexual intent of the offender, not skin-to-skin contact, forms assault”

About POCSO Act:

• The criminal laws before the enactment of POCSO neither solely addressed crimes against children nor were they gender neutral.
• However, in 1992, India ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children (UNCRC), which prescribes a set of standards to be undertaken the parties to secure the best interests of children.
• The POCSO Act came into force in 2012, and was specifically formulated to deal with offences including child sexual abuse and child pornography.
• The Act was amended in 2019, to make provisions for enhancement of punishments for various offences so as to deter the perpetrators and ensure safety, security and dignified childhood for a child.

Features of the Act:

• Gender neutrality:
  • It defines a child as someone under the age of 18.
  • But it is gender neutral, meaning that crimes of this nature committed against children will be handled by this act regardless of the gender of the child.
• Procedural guidelines:
  • The law lays down the procedures for reporting sexual crimes against children.
  • The Act sets a burden of proof of “guilty until proven innocent” rather than the general rule of “innocent until proven guilty”. Also, it is mandatory for the police to register a First Information Report (FIR) in all cases of child abuse.
  • There are also provisions as well as guidelines if the case requires support from NGOs or social workers as well as experts (Eg: psychologists) in the pre-trial and trial stages for the child.
• Classification of offences:
  • It is mandatory to report sexual crimes against children.
  • The Act lists all possible sexual offences against children including various types of sexual assault and sexual harassments, for attempted crimes as well as aiding-and-abetting these crimes or failure to report these crimes.
  • It also included punishment for persons in positions of trust of authority like public servants, staff of educational institutions, police etc.
• Child friendly procedures:
  • It set up procedures to make the criminal justice system child-friendly and prevent re-traumatisation.
  • This includes everything from how the statement of the child should be recorded, to the medical examination, to designation of special child friendly courts.
  • Eg: The police official should ensure that during the investigation, the child shouldn’t come in contact with the accused. The child cannot be detained at the police station at night, and their identity should be protected from the public and media.
• Special courts and timelines:
  • The Act prescribes for special courts to be created to handle these trials, each of which should be completed within one year.
• Punishment for crimes:
  • The punishments vary based on the crime. In 2019, an amendment was made to it when minimum punishment for aggravated sexual assault on children below 16 years was increased to 20 years, extendable to life imprisonment or death.
  • Also, POCSO is not just applicable in cases of physical sexual crimes, but also ones that happen over the internet.
• Compensations for victim:
  • There is provision for awarding compensation by the Special Court which includes loss of educational and employment opportunities along with disability, disease or pregnancy as the consequence of the abuse.
• Prevention of misuse:
  • In order to prevent misuse of the law, the law contains punishments for false complaints and false information with malicious intent. The recording of abuse is mandatory under this Act.

PRELIMS QUESTION

Consider the following statements regarding ‘Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO)’:

1. It is gender neutral

2. It provides for in-camera trials

3. The Act makes it mandatory for the police to register a First Information Report (FIR) in all cases of child abuse.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(c) 1 and 2 only

(d) 1,2 and 3

Answer