Boys ignored in this knee-jerk ordinance

As a nation is shocked at the brutal rape and murder of an 8-year-old girl in Kathua, and as more rapes of minors are reported, the Centre, in a knee-jerk reaction, has decided that an ordinance to put capital punishment on the table for rapes of girls younger than 12 is the way to appease public anger. The ordinance amends the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) and the Evidence Act primarily to increase maximum sentences—include the death penalty—to convicted persons.

There are three problems here. First, as the Centre has itself argued in the past, the death penalty is not a solution to everything. Leaving aside questions on the morality of capital punishment, there is little evidence that death sentence is a deterrent. Activists say possibility of a death sentence is only likely to endanger the life of the rape victim. More importantly, when it comes to sexual assault against minors, most offenders are known to the child. This often includes family members; it is one of the reasons why child sexual abuse is so rarely reported. Now, with the death sentence as a possible outcome, reporting will only become harder and more traumatic for the child and her family.

Second, it does not address real issues plaguing the system when it comes to gender-based violence. At every step—from reporting to conviction—the system is weighted against justice. The conviction rate for POCSO cases that went to court is under 30 per cent says the 2016 crime data.

Third, by amending POCSO, that recognised both boys and girls could be sexually assaulted, to include death as a punishment for rapists of girls under 12, the ordinance creates a false, and dangerous hierarchy of violence, with rape of girls being treated as more severe than that of boys. A 2007 government study showed more boys reported sexual violence than girls. The ordinance dilutes the spirit of POCSO, that for all its shortcomings, sought to protect all children from sexual assault, regardless of their gender.