POCSO Act Not For Criminalising Consensual Relationships Between Teenagers: Rajasthan High Court
Rajasthan High Court recently raised concerns over incidents of teenagers in the 16-19 year age bracket forming romantic relationships and getting criminalised under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO Act), Bar and Bench reported.
The court said that such incidents occur even if they are innocent relationships without any predatory sexual intent. While hearing the case last month, Justice Anil Kumar Upman cautioned that the POCSO Act is not meant to criminalise consensual relationships between teenagers who are close in age.
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The court pointed out that the Act was enacted to protect children from sexual predators and exploiters, and hence it cannot be said that the legislative intent was to use this stringent law to persecute young adults involved in consensual, albeit socially unaccepted, relationships.
The high court further called on the Union government to bring about changes in the law so that consensual relationships between teenagers who are close in age are not criminalised, while underlining that there is a pressing need to bridge the gap between the protective intent of the POCSO Act and the sociological reality of adolescent autonomy.
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“This Court urges the government to consider the introduction of a clause which grants exemption in such cases where the supposed perpetrator and the victim are in close proximity age … An exemption cause in this regard or a clause granting judiciary the discretion to adjudicate these cases looking at the particular facts and circumstances would grant the judiciary the necessary maneuverability to distinguish between predatory sexual abuse and consensual intimacy between adolescents,” the Court added, the report quoted.
