The age of innocence

A report released this week which focussed on cases involving the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act has thrown up beguiling statistics, pertaining to the age of consent. The report says that out of the 7,064 Pocso cases registered between 2016 and 2020, which were made available in the virtual courts of Assam, Maharashtra and West Bengal, as many as 1,715 (24.3%) comprised romantic cases, in which the default action was acquittal, which accounted for 1,609 cases (93.8%). Convictions were the exception to these cases and made up for just about 106 cases (6.2%).

It might be noted that age related information was culled out from FIRs available in about 1,1,20 (65.3%) of the aforementioned 1,715 cases. In 799 cases, the girl was aged between 16-18; in 272 cases, the girl was between 14-16 years; and in 49 cases, the girl was between the ages of 11-14 years. With regard to the acquittals, in 1,329 or 82% of the cases, the girl refused to testify against the accused. While in a majority of cases, the girls admitted to being in a consensual relationship with the accused, in over 94% of the cases, the special court acquitted the accused.

In light of these figures, the authors of the study say there is a need to amend the Pocso Act and decriminalise consensual acts between adolescents over the age of 16, while also ensuring that youngsters between 16-18 years are protected against non-consensual acts under Pocso Act. The Chief Justice of India, DY Chandrachud had also raised concerns pertaining to the Pocso Act implementation. He had pointed out that it was problematic on part of the legal system to presume that there is no notion of consent among those under the age of 18.

He remarked that lawmakers need to consider the age of consent, which has now been raised from 16 to 18. It’s a development that has caused consternation in the judicial circles. According to stakeholders, the increase in threshold seems out of touch with the ground reality, as we have seen in the given statistics. It is worth recollecting that Tamil Nadu’s Director General of Police had recently issued a circular to the police force urging them to exercise restraint when it came to cases involving arrests under Pocso. This directive was sent out because many of the cases comprised relationships based on consent.

A few constitutional courts such as the Allahabad High Court had also expressed its reservations pertaining to the abuse of the law, especially when it came to dealing with teenagers who were involved in relationships. The metrics pertaining to cases involving adolescents between the ages of 16-18 is in line with NCRB data pertaining to Pocso cases. Going by the past records, it is evident that a deadlock on such matters only contributes to pendency when it comes to tackling such cases. According to activists, it might be prudent if parliamentarians reconsider the decision of raising the age of consent to 18.

What might also be necessary is mainstreaming the conversation around sexual curiosity and intimacy. Putting on a facade of denial and pretending that teenagers are too naive to understand the intricacies of intimate relationships is the proverbial equivalent of putting blinders on a horse. Beyond the domains of courthouses and parliamentary debates, the actual conversations regarding such phenomena must be initiated in living rooms across India.