The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act, 2019
The Act intends to protect children’s from offences such as sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography.
The amendments introduced recently, changed the following provisions of the Act -
Penetrative Sexual Assault: The minimum punishment for a person committing penetrative assault on children is increased from 7 years to 10 years and if the penetrative assault is against children of age less than 16 years it could lead to imprisonment of minimum 20 years to life imprisonment.
Aggravated Penetrative Sexual Assault: The Act defines certain actions as “aggravated penetrative sexual assault” as the cases when a police officer, a member of the armed forces, or a public servant or offender is a relative of the child commits penetrative sexual assault on a child or if the assault injures the sexual organs of the child or the child becomes pregnant, among others.
The Act adds two more grounds to the definition of aggravated penetrative sexual assault. These include: (i) assault resulting in death of child, and (ii) assault committed during a natural calamity, or in any similar situations of violence.
Currently, the punishment for aggravated penetrative sexual assault is imprisonment between 10 years to life, and a fine. The Act increases the minimum punishment from ten years to 20 years, and the maximum punishment to death penalty.
Pornographic Purposes: Under the Act, a person is guilty of using a child for pornographic purposes if he uses a child in any form of media for the purpose of sexual gratification. The Act also penalizes persons who use children for pornographic purposes resulting in sexual assault.
Storage of Pornographic Material: The Act increases punishment from up to 3 years to 3 - 5 years and added 2 components worth punishable involving child pornography - (i) failing to destroy, or delete, or report pornographic material involving a child, and (ii) transmitting, displaying, distributing such material except for the purpose of reporting it.
Issues with the Act and Amendment
‘It is not the severity but surety of punishment that will cause deterrence’. The government must remember this; hence the policy directives must be in line to improve conviction rate then to make punishment severe.
Pendency of cases, victim shaming in society, patriarchal mindset and poor sexual education are some of the areas that need proper policy interventions.
Only tweaking-in already existing laws to curb wide spread dissent against a societal ill is not enough. As this method of pacifying dissent is not sustainable as seen in the past (Like Nirbhaya Fund remains underutilized).
