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