Achievements and Challenges in Legal Protection for Child Rights

Legislative Models of Prosecuting Child Sexual Abuse in India: A Review and Critical Analysis

“…In India, even though secular law prohibits child marriage, certain personal laws continue to sanction it, thus complicating matters. 15 Bajpai (2015) examined child rights law from various perspectives: the definition of a child, children in the juvenile system, children in conflict with law, child victims of abuse and crime, physical abuse of children, sexual abuse of children, child pornography, economic exploitation of children, etc. The history of the law is traced: until 2012, there was no comprehensive law on child sexual abuse.…”

“…After several years of campaigning for a separate law on child sexual abuse, the POCSO Bill was passed in 2012. Bajpai (2015) stated five "important" aspects of the new law: (1) it defines child sexual abuse as a gender-neutral crime; (2) it defines acts that constitute child sexual abuse comprehensively by including penetrative, non-penetrative, and non-touch forms of abuse; (3) it grades the quantum of punishment on the basis of regular and aggravated offences that take into account custodial forms of child sexual abuse; (4) it sets up a detailed procedural mechanism, including the establishment of special courts with child-friendly methods of recording evidence and 14 Agnes, F. (2013). Controversy over Age of Consent.…”

“…1-3. conducting trials; (5) it has provisions enabling reporting of cases by a child and squarely imposes burden of proof on the accused. Bajpai (2015) made two recommendations regarding reforms to POCSO. Firstly, the law must include support services to child victims, since many child sexual abuse cases are not reported to the police.…”

“…Secondly, the fact that the age of sexual consent is raised to 18 years is a matter of concern, as this provision of criminalizing consensual sexual behaviour may be misused by the police or even parents in some cases. Bajpai (2015) quoted the statement of Kamini Lau, Additional Sessions Judge, Delhi in April 2015, that when the age gap between youngsters in love who are on the verge of attaining majority is within acceptable limits and does not reflect an exploitative coercive situation, then the legal system cannot be used to punish them and courts cannot ruin their lives by taking a hyper-technical view. 16 A study by Raha (2016) examined 667 judgments passed by 20 judges from 1 January 2013…”

“…(1) rape of a virgin is considered to be more serious than rape of a woman with previous sexual experience 16 Bajpai, A. (2015).…”