Child sexual abuse laws in India

Child sexual abuse laws in India have been enacted as part of the nation's child protection policies. The Parliament of India passed the 'Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences Bill, 2011' regarding child sexual abuse on May 22, 2012 into Act. The rules formulated by the government in accordance with the law have also been notified on the November 2012 and the law has become ready for implementation. Fifty three percent of children in India face some form of child sexual abuse. The need for stringent law has been felt many times.

Goa Children's Act, 2003, was the only specific piece of child abuse legislation before the 2012 Act. Child sexual abuse was prosecuted under the following sections of Indian Penal Code:

However, the IPC could not effectively protect the child due to various loopholes like:

The new Act provides for a variety of offenses under which an accused can be punished.

It defines a child as a person under age of 18 years. It encompasses the biological age of the child and silent on the mental age considerations. A recent case in SC has been filed where a women of biological age 38yrs but mental age 6yrs was raped. The victim's advocate argues that "failure to consider the mental age will be an attack on the very purpose of act." SC has reserved the case for judgement and is determined to interpret whether the 2012 act encompasses the mental age or whether only biological age is inclusive in the definition.

It recognizes forms of penetration other than peno-vaginal penetration and criminalizes acts of immodesty against children too. The act is gender-neutral. With respect to pornography, the Act criminalizes even watching or collection of pornographic content involving children. The Act makes abettment of child sexual abuse an offense. It also provides for various procedural reforms, making the tiring process of trial in India considerably easier for children. The Act has been criticized as its provisions seem to criminalize consensual sexual intercourse between two people below the age of 18. The 2001 version of the Bill did not punish consensual sexual activity if one or both partners were above 16 years.

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