POCSO Bill endangers children: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi opposed the POCSO (Amendment) Bill saying that it does not consider the nature of sexual abuse of a child and in turn endangers children further.
Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi. (File Photo| ANI)
Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi. (File Photo| ANI)

HYDERABAD: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi opposed the POCSO (Amendment) Bill saying that it does not consider the nature of sexual abuse of a child and in turn endangers children further.

Owaisi, who opposed the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill in Lok Sabha on Thursday, said, “The Bill increases the maximum punishment from life imprisonment to the death penalty but it fails to consider the nature of child sexual abuse and endangers children.”

Reasoning further, Owaisi said that the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) 2016 revealed that 94.6 per cent of sexual assault cases of children were committed by people known to the victim.

“Based on practical difficulty, which I have seen and dealt with in my constituency, I put forward my views regarding the imposition of the death penalty. The fear of the death penalty, to someone they know, will exert pressure and deter a child from registering an offence,” Owaisi added.

He also pointed out that there was no mention of the possibility of consensual sex between minors.

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