The new law will cover all new aspects of sexual offences against children not covered elsewhere. The proposed legislation aims at protecting children against offences of sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography, and provide for establishment of special courts for trials of such offences.The bill provides for treating sexual assault as "aggravated offence" when it is committed by a person in position of trust or authority over a child, including a member of the security forces, police officer, public servant, management or staff of a children's home, hospital or educational institution. As per the draft bill, aggravated penetrative sexual assault against a child victim may lead to rigorous imprisonment for not less than 10 years.
The bill has the provision to extend the penalty to imprisonment for life, including a fine. It will be treated as an aggravated offence when the child victim is below 12 or has mental or physical disabilities, or the sexual offence causes grievous hurt or injury to the child with long-term adverse effects on the child's mind and body.
Activists speak
Though the bill has been welcomed by most activists across India, they only hope that it doesn’t become another material in black and white and remains only in books. More pressure has to be given to implementing it effectively, and no ways should be found for loopholes from the Act.
Activist 1: "The bill provides for a maximum punishment of ten years in case of penetrative sex - the gravest offence of all. But in order to send across a strong message, especially in case of aggravated forms of crime, such as gang-rapes, the punishment ought to have been stepped up to life-imprisonment. Also, while the bill recommends counseling for the victims and families, it ought to have been made mandatory,"
Activist 2: “The punishments were carefully calibrated, in keeping with each of the three categories of sexual offences - penetrative, non-penetrative and non-contact (cases pertaining to exhibitionism and exposure of the child to pornography) and therefore, satisfactory.”
Activist 3: “Even as the bill dealt with the "tricky" issue of exposing children to pornography, it did not stress the issue of internet-based pornography enough, which is increasingly becoming a matter of grave concern.”
Activist 4: “The shame culture that exists in India on every sexual issue has led to an ethos where everything is fine as long as we don’t talk about it. This shame turns into guilt, plaguing family members, community and ultimately the child.”
