Age Of Consent Should Be 16, Suggests MP High Court, Quashes FIR Against 17-Year-Old Accused Of Rape
The Madhya Pradesh High Court has recommended that the Centre consider lowering the age from the current 18 years to 16 years under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
What is the case?
The Gwalior bench of MP High Court made the recommendation on Friday while hearing a petition of a 17-year-old boy, who was booked under the POCSO Act based on a complaint of a 14-year-old girl.
On Friday, the defence counsel argued that the physical relationship was developed with the consent of both (victim and accused). After hearing the arguments from both sides, the bench quashed the FIR against the accused person and requested the Centre to consider lowering the age from 18 to 16.
Injustice to boys
"Nowadays, every male or female near the age of 14 years due to social media awareness and easily accessible internet connectivity, is getting puberty at an early age. Owing to this, female and male children are getting attraction and these attractions are resulting in physical relationship with consent. In these cases, male persons are not at all criminal. It is only a matter of age when they come into contact with a female and develop physical relationships," Justice Deepak Kumar Agarwal of the HC said.
"Generally, girls and boys of adolescence develop friendship and thereafter, due to attraction make physical relationships. But, due to this rider boy is treated like a criminal in the society," the court added.
Terming it as an injustice to boys, Justice Agarwal then requests the Government of India to consider lowering the age of consent from 18 to 16 years as earlier.
Not the first such recommendation?
The?age of consent?for a physical relationship is a much-debated topic in India. While it is currently 18 years, there has been a long-standing demand that the minimum age should be 16.??
It should be noted that in India, initially, the age of consent was 16 years, but it was increased to 18 years in 2013 after the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, came into effect.
This is also not the first time courts have suggested that the age of consent should be reduced.
In 2019 and 2022, the Madras High Court made the same recommendation in two different cases.?
In 2022, Chief Justice of India, D.Y. Chandrachud, had also appealed to Parliament to relook at the age of consent issue, as cases involving consensual sexual relationships among adolescents posed "difficult questions for judges across the spectrum".
POCSO accused sentenced with a heavy heart
Earlier this week, a court in Gujarat had sentenced a man to 20 years imprisonment for rape under POCSO Act, saying that the order was passed 'with a heavy heart,' as the relationship between the accused and the 17-year-old girl was consensual.
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