POCSO Act

Maharashtra's special POCSO court announced10 years' imprisonment to a father-son duo for raping the man's mentally challenged minor daughter. On May 2, the court bench led by judge Kavita D Shirbhate announced the verdict and imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 each. Furthermore, the accused were allegedly raping 15-year-old mentally-ill girl in Thane, since 2017, and were charged under the IPC and POCSO act.

Disappointed with the Allahabad HC, the Uttar Pradesh Govt challenged the acquittal of former state minister Gayatri Prasad Prajapati under the POCSO Act. Notably, Prajapati was arrested and sent to jail in March 2017 on charges of gang-raping a woman from Chitrakoot district and attempting to rape her minor daughter. He and four other were convicted in 2017 rape case, but was aquitted in the POCSO case.

The Kovilpatti east police on January 21 have arrested three minor boys under the POCSO act for sexually abusing a nine-year-old boy for almost one-and-a-half months in Tamil Nadu's Tuticorin. "During one such time, the accused showed the explicit videos and forced the boy to do the same," the police said. However, the incident has traumatized him and only after several rounds of counseling, he revealed the truth.

Shrikant Gaikwad, who allegedly attacked a teenage girl with a hammer and later raped her near Ulhasnagar Railway Station in Maharastra has been arrested on Sept 11. The minor girl was returning home from Shirdi with her friends when the incident took place on Sept 10. However, she somehow managed to escape him. Based on the family complaint, the offender has been tracked down and booked under POCSO Act.

The Ministry of Women and Child development denied the Parliamentary panel's recommendation to reduce the age limit to 16 years from 18 years for juveniles involved in serious crimes under the "Protection of Children from Sexual offenses act". The ministry believes the existing law "Juvenile act 2015" is adequate to address the juveniles. "We do not desire to pursue the matter", the ministry said.