Shikha Maan, LLM, SRM University, Sonepat
ABSTRACT
Worldwide, the number of sexual offences against children is rising alarmingly. India is one of the top five nations in the world in regard to the prevalence of child sex offences. In India, 53 percent of children experience some kind of child sexual assault.1There have been numerous requests for stricter laws.23 In order to protect children from sexual assault offences, the Indian Parliament passed the “Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences Bill, 2011”. After being approved by both Houses of Parliament, the Act acquired the India’s president on June 19, 2012. The Protection of Children From Sexual Offenses Act, 2012 (32 of 2012) (hereafter referred to as the (“POCSO Act”) went into effect on November 11, 2012. The laws that are followed by the government’s regulations have also been informed, and the law is now prepared for, as of November 2012 implementation.
However, India’s criminal legislation falls short in many ways to address such a delicate and important topic. Following the landmark case, the Law Commission examined the entirety of the law pertaining to sexual offences in its 172nd Commission Report3 of Sakshi v. Union of India4.The Commission filed multiple appeals calling for changes to the relevant laws. The Indian Penal Code of 1860 (IPC), the Evidence Act of 1872 (EA Act), and the Code of Criminal Procedure all underwent certain changes.1973 [Crpc] and the 2012 [POCSO] Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act following the Nirbhaya [Delhi Gang Rape] incident.4 The Criminal Law Amendment Act of 2013 (effective as of 3.02.2013), However, the law as it is now falls short in many ways when it comes to handling sexual offences against children.
