KOLKATA: Charges under the Pocso (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act result in “automatic criminalisation“, the Calcutta high court said on Wednesday even as it acquitted a man who was a minor when he entered into a relationship with a girl younger than him. The HC, which noticed during the hearing the constant presence of a woman and a baby, was told she was the survivor in the case and that she and the accused had later married and now have a child.
Stating that the Pocso Act does not consider normal sexual behaviour among adolescents and automatically criminalises those accused, the HC requested the Law Commission and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights to suggest revisions in the age of consent.
Consensual sex between persons in the age group of 16 to 18 “needs to be decriminalised”, a division bench comprising Justices Chitta Ranjan Dash and Partha Sarathi Sen said but stressed that it was important to protect minors below 18 from sexual abuse.
“By equating consensual and non-exploitative sexual acts with rape and (aggravated) penetrative sexual assault, the law undermines the bodily integrity and dignity of adolescents,” the HC said.
“Pocso lumps all persons below 18 years together without consideration for their developing sexuality, evolving capacity, and the impact of such criminalisation on their best interests. It fails to strike an effective balance between protecting adolescents from sexual abuse and recognising their normative sexual behaviour,” the court said.
The HC was hearing an appeal by a man sentenced to 20 years and fined Rs 10,000 by a Baruipur trial court last year.
Stating that the Pocso Act does not consider normal sexual behaviour among adolescents and automatically criminalises those accused, the HC requested the Law Commission and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights to suggest revisions in the age of consent.
Consensual sex between persons in the age group of 16 to 18 “needs to be decriminalised”, a division bench comprising Justices Chitta Ranjan Dash and Partha Sarathi Sen said but stressed that it was important to protect minors below 18 from sexual abuse.
“By equating consensual and non-exploitative sexual acts with rape and (aggravated) penetrative sexual assault, the law undermines the bodily integrity and dignity of adolescents,” the HC said.
“Pocso lumps all persons below 18 years together without consideration for their developing sexuality, evolving capacity, and the impact of such criminalisation on their best interests. It fails to strike an effective balance between protecting adolescents from sexual abuse and recognising their normative sexual behaviour,” the court said.
The HC was hearing an appeal by a man sentenced to 20 years and fined Rs 10,000 by a Baruipur trial court last year.
