POCSO Act Is To Penalise Culprits For Sexual Abuse Against Minors, Not Punish Young Adults For Consensual Relationship: Delhi HC
In India, many women are still forced into a marriage against their will by their parents. But when they are unhappy and find out their own ways to get out of it, the parents punish them in the most severe ways. In fact, many misuse the laws too. Recently, during the hearing of one such case, Justice Jasmeet Singh of Delhi High Court, clarified that the POCSO act cannot be used to prosecute adults just for being in a consensual relationship.
The Delhi High Court Justice Jasmeet Singh granted bail to an accused who was jailed last year for marrying a woman with her consent. In 2021, a girl, aged 17 was married to a man against her wishes just because her family wanted to. But unhappy with her married life, the girl sneaked out of the house, and went to the accused for shelter, Then later, the couple got married in Punjab, after which the girl’s parents registered an FIR against the man. The Punjab And Haryana Court charged him under various sections of the POCSO act. As per a report by Live Law, the girl had approached the court to grant the accused protection from her parents, which was also noted by Jasmeet Singh while giving him bail. The judge also heard the statements of the woman and concluded that she went ahead to have a consensual relationship with the accused because she was not happy with the man of her parent’s choice.
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It was during this case, that Justice Jasmeet Singh made it clear that POCSO acts were made to prosecute culprits for sexual abuse against minors, and not punish young adults for having mutual relationships.
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Well, time and again the courts have made it clear that POCSO should not be a way to charge adults for decisions that they were not forced into. This can also be considered as an indication that laws are not meant to be used for moral policing people and accusing them of something that was not even a crime. However, getting the daughters married against their will and using laws as revenge is what is morally wrong.
