November 26, 2025

Pocso: Culture Of Silence & Age Of Consent

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2022-12-12 06:42:03

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Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.

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Chief Justice of India Justice D Y Chandrachud was spot on when he raised concern about the 'culture of silence' surrounding child sexual abuse that prevented families from reporting such incidents. He was also right in asking the legislature to take note of the public debate on lowering the age of consent under the Pocso Act.

Speaking at the inaugural session of a two-day seminar on the implementation of the Pocso Act, 2012, CJI Chandrachud also expressed concern over the manner in which the criminal justice system in India functions which sometimes compounds the trauma of the victim. Minister for women and child development also highlighted the fact that as per available data, it took 509 days on an average for a Pocso case to be decided. She sought the opinion of judges to reduce this time and provide speedy justice to children who were victims of sexual abuse.

There is no doubt that for every case reported under the Pocso Act, there are several others which go unreported. Families fear social backlash and also feel that the child will be put through a lot of harassment and trauma in court and prefer to follow the culture of silence, as Justice Chandrachud put it. But this allows the perpetrator to become bold and target other children, secure in the knowledge that his or her vile acts will not be reported and he or she will not be punished for them. Justice Chandrachud advised the state to encourage families to report the incidents so that child molesters do not go unpunished.

As for the age of consent, a new report has highlighted that more than 94% so-called 'romantic' cases under Pocso (where either one or both of the alleged victim and the alleged perpetrator were below 18 years of age) have resulted in acquittals. The Pocso Act was enacted to prevent children from being subjected to sexual abuse. But sadly, it did not factor in situations where teenagers between 16 to 18 years of age fell in love and engaged in sexual activity to give in to the demands of their body. Pocso needs to be amended to lower the age of consent to 16 to legalize consensual sexual activity among elder teens. Of course checks and balances will need to be incorporated to ensure that it is not used as a loophole by others but it needs to be done.

Also, there must be fast track trial in Pocso cases as there are special Pocso courts in place. The average of 509 days to decide a Pocso case is not acceptable as children cannot be subjected to court proceedings for such long periods as it increases their trauma. Processes in such cases must be simplified and care must be taken to ensure that the child is handled with sensitivity and not subjected to further trauma.