KOLLAM: Two cases registered recently under the POCSO Act in the state present a legal conundrum which gives no precedent for the court to rely upon during trial.
At Kalamassery, a 12-year-old boy fathered the child of a 16-year-old girl in November 2016. The case grabbed national interest after the boy was labelled as the youngest father in the country. But barely six months later, a 15-year-old girl hailing from Pathanapuram in Kollam delivered a child and attributed the fatherhood to another 12-year-old boy.
The peculiarity of the two cases is the perpetrator and the victim were minors and the ‘perpetrator becomes victim’ and the ‘victim becomes perpetrator’ in the eyes of the POCSO Act.
Despite the low conviction rate and its contradictions with the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act of 2012 is considered a landmark legislation. But these two cases will test the competence of the POCSO Act in dealing with complicated issues involving minors. The cases are also expected to lead to a public discussion on the limitations of the Act. Many legal experts feel the cases are likely to bring about new interpretations of the legislation.
“The most worrying fact is, minors indulged in such acts. It’s high time we addressed these social problems or else they will get out of hand. Pornography has become readily available for adolescents and it’s natural they would try out such acts out of curiosity. So, it stresses the importance of sex education,” said J Sandhya, former member, Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights.
Joe George, an endocrinologist based in Kozhikode, said in such cases the boy couldn’t be considered as one who is going through precocious puberty as, generally, puberty beginning before age eight for girls and before age nine for boys could be called precocious.
“Among boys, maturity starts when they are 12 years old. Puberty is usually divided into five stages and here it is to be examined at which stage these two boys were. Another aspect is, if a 12-year-old boy goes through the second or third stage it is normal. But if he exceeds the fifth stage, it is abnormal. Many triggers, including environmental aspects, hereditary diseases and others, are at play here,” said Joe George.
According to the Kalamassery police, who said the charge sheet will be filed by the end of this month, there was some ambiguity regarding the POCSO Act as it is gender neutral. “In this case, the boy told us he was ignorant about sex and it was the girl who initiated the act. Thus, from his perspective, it was the girl who abused him. When it comes to the girl, penetrative sexual assault has taken place, for which the boy is responsible. We are in a dilemma over who is the offender is and who is the victim. Let’s wait for the court’s interpretation,” said an officer at the Kalamassery police station.