To combat rising cases of child sex abuse, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved amendments to strengthen the POCSO Act by including death penalty for aggravated sexual assault on children, besides providing stringent punishments for other crimes against minors, officials said.
The proposed changes in the Protection of Children fromSexual Offences (POCSO) Act also provide for fines and imprisonment to curbchild pornography.
The modification in the law will address the need forstringent measures against rising trend of child sex abuse in the country andcombat the menace of relatively new kind of crimes, the government said,stressing that the strong penal provisions will act as a deterrent.
“It intends to protect the interests of vulnerablechildren in times of distress and ensures their safety and dignity. Theamendment is aimed at establishing clarity regarding the aspects of child abuseand punishment thereof,” it said.
The government, in a statement, said the amendments inSection-2, 4, 5, 6, 9, 14, 15, 34,42 and 45 of the POCSO Act, 2012 are beingmade to address the aspects of child sexual abuse in an appropriate manner.
“Section-4, 5 and 6 are proposed to be amended toprovide option of stringent punishment, including death penalty, for committingsexual assault and aggravated penetrative sexual assault crime on a child toprotect the children from sexual abuse,” it said.
The amendments are also proposed in Section-9 to protectchildren from sexual offences in times of natural calamities and other similarsituations and in cases where children are administered, in any way, anyhormone or any chemical substance, to attain early sexual maturity for thepurpose of penetrative sexual assault, the statement said.
“Section-14 and Section-15 of the POCSO Act, 2012 arealso proposed to be amended to address the menace of child pornography. It isproposed to levy fine for not destroying or deleting or reporting thepornographic material involving a child with an intention to share or transmitit,” the government said.