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Polity & Governance
Pradeep Kumar

25/05/21 17:06 PM IST

Expanding the scope of POCSO

In news

Fundamental defect of POCSO is its inability to deal with historical cases.
  • With growing international jurisprudence around these issues, and in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, India must revise its legal and procedural methods to deal with historical child sexual abuse.
  • Recently, the Supreme Court had to injunct an interpretation of ‘skin-to-skin contact’ given by the Bombay High Court.
Historical cases
  • Historical child sexual abuse refers to incidents that are reported late.
  • Historical abuse is not just confined to institutions but also includes intra-familial abuse where it is difficult for the child to report the offence or offender at the earliest point in time.
  • It often takes time for the child to recognise and comprehend the gravity of what transpired and become confident to report the offence. 
  • While the limitation provisions were incorporated into the CrPC to avert delayed prosecution, the circumstances around child sexual abuse cannot and must not be viewed in the same manner as other criminal offences.
  • Therein lies a compelling case to allow delayed reporting and prosecution with regard to incidents of child sexual offences.
Source: The Hindu

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