Death Penalty for Sexual Assault on Minors
The Indian government has amended some of the laws in the POSCO Act.
The Indian government has changed some of the laws in the 2012 POSCO Act. Posco is the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences. The government made these changes to stop child abuse in the country. The new law states that, if a man has sex with a child below the age of 18, he will be sent to jail for minimum 20 years. This law will be applicable on both male and female children.
If a person takes advantage of a child during a natural calamity the law will apply on them. The government included natural calamity situations in the law because during such times, children and women are the most affected. For example, during the Kedarnath floods, many young girls were raped. It will also apply if the person infects the child with HIV, if he gets the child pregnant or he disables the child.
The punishment can also be life imprisonment or even the death penalty. This law will even apply to a police officer if he has sex with a child in the police station.
Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said this law is very important as it will help reduce the rising cases of child abuse in the country. The law also states that a person who keeps and sells of pornographic content of children can be jailed for upto 3 years.
The government was forced to make changes in the POSCO Act, after the rape of two minor girls in Kathua and Unnao and various other crimes on young children all over the country.
