Pocso, Age Of Consent And Promise To Marry
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
View all posts by this Author
By Linus Garg
First publised on 2023-08-10 09:02:15
About the Author
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
View all posts by this Author
The age of consent and the provisions of Pocso Act were once again in focus as the Delhi HC, while granting bail to a 23-year-old youth in a Pocso case, stressed that the Act was enacted to protect kids and not to criminalize relationships between young consenting adults, even though one or both of whom had not attained the age of consent as prescribed by laws currently in place.
The instant case was about the relationship between the accused and a girl who was above 17 years of age at the time of the alleged offence but not 18, which is the age of consent in India. The two were in a relationship and the girl had become pregnant after being in a consensual romantic relationship with the accused. The court said that the physical relationship between the two appeared to be out of their own free will (but the question is whether a minor's consent is valid under Pocso) although the girl had alleged in the FIR that the accused had established physical relations with her on promise of marriage.
In this case, since the girl was a minor at the time the alleged offence was committed, the provisions of the Pocso Act will be applicable first. The charge of rape under Section 375 of the IPC for not marrying after having sexual intercourse, though promising to do so, will come later. Even in the second instance, since the girl was below marriageable age and had filed the FIR before she turned 18, the charge under Pocso will get primacy.
The age of consent has been a point of discussion in many court verdicts. The judiciary is veering around to the view that young adults who are below the age of consent should not be penalized for having sexual relationships. Hence, many court verdicts have sought not to penalize young adults between 16 and 18 under Pocso. There has also been a demand from many quarters to lower the age of consent to 16.
But in this case, although the accused has been granted bail (the court was of the opinion that since the relationship appeared to be consensual and the boy had already spent nearly two years in prison, it would harm him to keep him with hardened criminals), the question of reneging on the promise of marriage, as alleged by the victim, and prosecution under Section 375 of IPC, remains.
