New law on child abuse?

New Delhi, Nov. 20: After many years of delay, India may finally have a comprehensive law to deal with atrocities against children. The Union law ministry has asked the women and child development ministry to prepare a comprehensive law on the issue after the earlier Offences against Children Bill 2005 has been stuck in the red tape between the two ministries. The ministry of home affairs had objected to some proposed amendments in a few sections of the Indian Penal Code. The only law pertaining to children is Juvenile Justice Act, 2000, which primarily deals with children in conflict with law. There is no uniform age to define a child. It is 14 years "in law" against child labour, 18 years in the act framed to prevent child marriage. While under the Indian Penal Code, having sex with a child below 16 years is a crime. "The labour laws have several loopholes that helps employers get away with child labour. Also, there is no legal tool to make the litigation process ‘painless’ for the child victim. It should also include the provision of psycho-social support to the children," said Ms Kiran Chadha, child rights activist of the Human Rights Law Network. The Indian penal code does not recognise child sexual abuse as an offence. A child sexual offender is booked under various other sections of the IPC — offences of rape (Section 375), outraging the modesty of a woman (Section 354), and "unnatural offences" (Section 377). Very often, child sexual abuse happens in various other ways like exhibitionism, and other forms of penetration categorised as "outraging the modesty" of a woman .

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