Pocso Act

17-year-old girl fleeing abuse in Andhra gang-raped in Odisha; minor detained

A harrowing case of serial victimization has emerged from Odisha’s Berhampur, where a 17-year-old girl, who fled her home in Andhra Pradesh to escape sexual abuse by her stepfather, was allegedly drugged and gang-raped by two men and a minor.

Supreme Court calls for adding ‘Romeo-Juliet’ clause in POCSO Act to protect genuine teen relationships

The apex court said the Centre should consider steps to curb the misuse of POCSO Act, including the idea of a 'Romeo-Juliet clause' to shield consensual adolescent relationships from criminal prosecution.

Supreme Court stays Delhi HC order granting bail to Kuldeep Sengar in Unnao rape case | Key observations

At the heart of the dispute is the High Court’s prima facie view that the offence of aggravated penetrative sexual assault under the POCSO Act was not established against Sengar.

POCSO court in Kerala sentences mother, step-father to 180 years rigorous imprisonment for repeated sexual abuse of minor girl

.The court also imposed a fine of Rs 11.75 lakh each, directing that failure to pay the fine would result in an additional 20 years of imprisonment.

'POCSO Act being misused in consensual relationships between adolescents, law forced upon boys': Supreme Court

"The law is being thrust upon boys. We should spread awareness among boys and men about the legal provisions," said the Supreme Court.

Madhya Pradesh Horror: 5-yr-old girl tells mother about 'bad touch'; school watchman's minor son held

The boy has been booked under sections 65-ii (Whoever commits rape on a woman under twelve years of age) and 75 (physical contact and advances involving unwelcome and explicit sexual overtures) of the BNS and provisions of the POCSO Act.

POCSO Act: Supreme court overturns Madras HC's order on child pornography, says HC committed 'egregious error'

With its judgment, the apex court's bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud set aside the Madras High Court ruling that had said mere downloading and watching child pornography was not an offence under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and Information Technology (IT) Act.

What is POCSO Act? All you need to know about the stringent law after Supreme Court's big ruling on child porn

Enacted in 2012, the Act was amended in 2019, with the aim to curb child pornography and implement stringent measures against individuals guilty of committing or recording sexual crimes against children.

Ex-CM Yediyurappa booked under POCSO Act

The girl's mother alleged that 81-year-old Yediyurappa sexually assaulted her daughter during a meeting on February 2.

NIA files charge sheet against 8 LeT cadres in Karnataka in 'fidayeen' attack conspiracy case

Among the charge-sheeted accused is T Naseer of Kannur in Kerala, who is serving a life sentence in the Central Prison in Bengaluru in a separate case since 2013.

46% increase in crimes against children in Karnataka, nearly 8,000 cases in 2022: NCRB

Police registered 7988 cases in 2022 in comparison to 5471 in 2020 and 7261 the next year. Many of these cases were under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCS), the report said.

POCSO Act: Debate on minimum age of consent as law panel looks to clear stand

Consensual sexual activity among adolescents being criminalised under the law has been cited as a major reason for the suggested changes

SC agrees to hear plea of NGO challenging reduction of age of consent

A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Mishra issued notice to the Centre and tagged the plea of 'Bachpan Bachao Andolan' with a pending petition filed by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR).

HC grants bail to boy in POCSO case, says company of hardened criminals would do more harm

Justice Vikas Mahajan observed that the minor girl, aged 17 years and half at the relevant time, had sufficient maturity and intellectual capacity, and was prima facie in a consensual romantic relationship with the accused.

POCSO Act must stop turning consensual relationships between adolescents into a crime

The POCSO law came after a long struggle to foreground the abuse of minors. But a big disappointment has been its inordinately high age of consent, pegged at 18, that doesn’t factor in teenage sexuality. This has led to wanton criminalisation and assaults on the autonomy of adolescents