MADURAI: Observing that in cases involving consensual relationship between adolescents, it is often the boy who ultimately faces criminal proceedings and incarceration, the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court has directed the chief secretary, Tamil Nadu government, to conduct awareness camps in schools and colleges about the provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 and file a status report to the court on June 3.
Justice N Mala gave the direction while acquitting a boy who was convicted and sentenced to 20 years rigorous imprisonment for sexually assaulting a minor girl by a special court in Kanniyakumari last year.
The facts of the case, as mentioned in the judgment, were that the boy, who was then 17 years old, was in a relationship with the minor girl, then aged 16 years, and had promised to marry her.
When the girl informed that her parents were planning to marry her off to some other person against her will, the boy had asked her to come with him. The two left for his uncle’s house, where they got married and lived together for a month, before being found by the child welfare committee officials who handed them over to police.
Based on the girl’s complaint, a sexual assault case was registered against the boy under POCSO Act. A Special Court for POCSO Act cases sentenced him to 20 years rigorous imprisonment in June last year, challenging which the boy filed an appeal.
Allowing the appeal on the ground that the victim’s age was not proved, Justice Mala observed, “This is a typical case of consensual adolescent sexual relationship ending on a discordant note due to parental differences.”
She referred to a recent Supreme Court judgment which highlighted the misuse of POCSO Act and suggested to the union government to consider including a ‘Romeo Juliet clause’ exempting genuine adolescent relationships from the stronghold of this law. If wide publicity is given to the Act and its stringency as mandated under Section 43 of the Act, the menace pointed out by the Supreme Court could be curbed to an extent, the judge opined and issued the above directions.
Request for suo motu case over Nanguneri attack
Madurai: An advocate has requested the first bench of the Madurai Bench of Madras HC to initiate suo motu proceedings to ensure grant of financial aid by the government to the family of a migrant worker who was one among the two victims of the sickle attack that took place near Nanguneri in Tirunelveli on March 2.
Advocate Aayiram K Selvakumar made a mention in this regard before a bench of justices N Sathish Kumar and R Jothiraman on Friday. He pointed out that so far, no financial assistance or relief has been granted by the government to the bereaved family.
The judges told the government counsel to get instructions from the state on the matter. On March 2, a nine-member masked gang attacked passersby with sickles in Perumpathu village near Nanguneri. Two persons — a migrant worker Trinath Kata of Odisha, and an SC man with disability John Mark — died on the spot, and six were hurt.