AN ANNOTATION TO POCSO ACT
By Deva Dharshani S. & Priyanka C.
India is one of the top five countries in the world with the highest rate of child sexual abuse which witnesses an alarming amount of child sexual abuse that has reached a deplorable state. In many cases, children are unable to comprehend that their sexual identity is being violated and they are incapable of understanding that the reason for their mental trauma is the nearest and dearest, which hinder the children’s social growth. In the wake of the infamous Nithari scandal case 2006 which follows the uncontrolled popular discontent articulation arising on the streets and in the media as opposed to the central government, the State has undergone a lot of pressure to speed up the slow process of developing new laws to address sexual assault against children. To elevate collaboration and finalize a new bill, Ms. Sonia Gandhi, the President of the Indian National Congress Party, voiced a strong letter to the law minister and the Minister for Women and Child Development. After-effect of this pressure was that the ‘Offence Against Children’ (OAC), an earlier proposal, was discharged. Hereby a strong legal framework with less vague and more rigid legitimate arrangements, a child-friendly criminal justice system was enacted to address the offences against children under the name ‘Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act’ (POCSO), in November 2012.
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