Salil Navgire, D.E.S. Law College, Pune University
ABSTRACT
The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 aims to lay emphasis on respecting and protecting the right to privacy of a child during all stages of a judicial proceeding involving the child. The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act, on 6th august 2019 made several changes, which are majorly regarding the increase in the tenure of the punishment in the parent act.
The aim of this amendment is to strengthen existing penal provisions regarding sexual offences against children. It introduced the punishment of death penalty for the offence of aggravated penetrative sexual assault. Furthermore, the amendment also expanded the definition of "Aggravated Sexual Assault."
The primary objective of the death penalty is to “deter” (prevent) criminals from attempting and repeating sexual offences in the future. However, it has been often argued that death penalty should be abolished, as it does not prove to be an effective preventive measure.
The purpose of this article is to highlight the provisions of this amendment and to identify the consequent lacunas. This article also provides some constructive suggestions on individual as well as administrative level to prevent sexual offences against children.
