POCSO amended to ensure gender neutrality
By Kriti Kalra
The executive that passed the ordinance and the Ministry for Women and Child Development realised the anomaly the ordinance manifested. So, amendments to POCSO Act 2012 were recommended to the union cabinet to tackle this unconstitutionality that were approved by the cabinet in July 2019.
In its original form, POCSO was gender neutral, prescribing the same punishment for abuse of male and female child. The amendments to Section 376 of IPC mentioned the word “woman” meaning that those guilty of raping boys below the age of 12 years old would not be subject to the death penalty provision.
The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was introduced in the Parliament and passed by both houses. It sought to amend sections 2, 4, 5, 6, 9, 14, 15, 34, 42 and 45 of the POCSO Act, 2012. The POCSO (Amendment) Act 2019 came into effect in August 2019. It introduced ‘death penalty’ for aggravated sexual assault on ‘children’, besides providing stringent punishments for other crimes against minors.
The amended provisions include:
- Whoever commits penetrative sexual assault shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than ten years (seven years in POCSO Act 2012) but which may extend to imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine
- Whoever commits penetrative sexual assault on a child below sixteen years of age shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than twenty years, but which may extend to imprisonment for life, which shall mean imprisonment for the remainder of natural life of that person, and shall also be liable to fine (new section)
- Whoever commits aggravated penetrative sexual assault shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than twenty years (ten years in POCSO Act 2012), but which may extend to imprisonment for life, which shall mean imprisonment for the remainder of natural life of that person, and shall also be liable to fine, or with death (death penalty included in POCSO Act 2019).
In a response to the debate on the bill, WCD Minister Smriti Irani stated ‘6.20 lakh sexual offenders were listed in the national database and they were being tracked by investigative agencies’ underlining the need of stringent punishment for sexual offences against children. And, India is leading the way!
The executive that passed the ordinance and the Ministry for Women and Child Development realised the anomaly the ordinance manifested. So, amendments to POCSO Act 2012 were recommended to the union cabinet to tackle this unconstitutionality that were approved by the cabinet in July 2019.
In its original form, POCSO was gender neutral, prescribing the same punishment for abuse of male and female child. The amendments to Section 376 of IPC mentioned the word “woman” meaning that those guilty of raping boys below the age of 12 years old would not be subject to the death penalty provision.
The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was introduced in the Parliament and passed by both houses. It sought to amend sections 2, 4, 5, 6, 9, 14, 15, 34, 42 and 45 of the POCSO Act, 2012. The POCSO (Amendment) Act 2019 came into effect in August 2019. It introduced ‘death penalty’ for aggravated sexual assault on ‘children’, besides providing stringent punishments for other crimes against minors.
The amended provisions include:
- Whoever commits penetrative sexual assault shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than ten years (seven years in POCSO Act 2012) but which may extend to imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine
- Whoever commits penetrative sexual assault on a child below sixteen years of age shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than twenty years, but which may extend to imprisonment for life, which shall mean imprisonment for the remainder of natural life of that person, and shall also be liable to fine (new section)
- Whoever commits aggravated penetrative sexual assault shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than twenty years (ten years in POCSO Act 2012), but which may extend to imprisonment for life, which shall mean imprisonment for the remainder of natural life of that person, and shall also be liable to fine, or with death (death penalty included in POCSO Act 2019).
In a response to the debate on the bill, WCD Minister Smriti Irani stated ‘6.20 lakh sexual offenders were listed in the national database and they were being tracked by investigative agencies’ underlining the need of stringent punishment for sexual offences against children. And, India is leading the way!
