New Delhi: A 19-year-old boy, Deepak Kumar, died under mysterious circumstances in Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh. Deepak was accused of kidnapping a 15 year old girl. The girl’s parents had lodged a complaint that Deepak had lured their daughter and taken her to Ambala. Police had recovered Deepak and the girl from Ambala. On return, Sub-Inspector Sunil Kumar, who was looking after this case, went to his home in Shamli. He locked Deepak in a room. Next morning Deepak was found hanging in that room. Deepak’s father alleges that his son has been murdered, while the police is considering it as suicide. This matter is now under investigation.
Thousands of people lose their lives due to love affairs.
Deepak’s story is not alone. There is a long list of deaths and murders due to love affairs in India. According to NCRB data, between 2012 and 2022, 56,240 people committed suicide, while 15,499 people were murdered due to love affairs.
POCSO Act has put people in love affairs in trouble
Legal experts say that some changes made in the law in 2012 and 2015 have put youth in trouble, especially those in love relationships. In 2012, the age of consent was raised from 16 to 18 years under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act. This means that sex with anyone under the age of 18, even if consensual, is considered rape.
Amendment was also made in Juvenile Act
In 2015, the Juvenile Justice Act was amended, allowing courts to try juveniles between 16 and 18 years of age as adults in certain cases. Also, a bill is under consideration in the Parliament which proposes to increase the marriage age for women from 18 to 21 years.
The right to choose a partner has been taken away from young women.
Experts say that these laws have taken away the right of young women to choose their partners and have criminalized sexual relations between youth. Senior lawyer Rebecca John says, “The state has no right to make laws on the right to marry. This is a way of childishing the youth.”
Even the courts get confused
“Judges remain very skeptical about cases where there are consensual relationships between youth between 16 and 18 years of age because the POCSO law leaves no room for discretion,” says John.
Activists say phones and social media have empowered young people in rural and urban areas alike to bypass parental restrictions and meet people. When a young couple elopes, the family faces public shame and social humiliation. To protect their daughter’s “honour” they file a kidnapping case. If the girl is a minor, the police is obliged to take action under POCSO by registering an FIR. If the boy is between 16 and 18 years old, he can also be charged with rape and assault.
“Add to this the toxic mix of caste and religion, and you have a whole cocktail of haphazard enforcement of the law. The courts are struggling with this,” says John.
Allahabad High Court judge had also raised the issue
Recently, the Allahabad High Court highlighted the misuse of POCSO while granting bail to a man who eloped with a minor girl and married her. Expressing concern over the law being used in cases involving consensual love affairs between teenagers, Justice Krishna Pal said, “The first objective of the POCSO Act is to protect children under 18 from sexual exploitation, but many cases It has been abused, especially in consensual romantic relationships between teenage persons.”
Challenges in differentiating between exploitation and consensual cases
The court said, “The challenge lies in distinguishing between genuine cases of exploitation and cases involving consensual relationships. This requires a nuanced approach and careful judicial consideration to ensure that justice is served.”
‘Punishing consensual relationships is not the solution’
Advocate Rutuja Shinde believes that punishing consensual relationships is not the solution. “We need open dialogue and dialogue to decriminalize sexual acts between minors,” she says. Advocates say the way forward is to lower the age of consent to 16. In 2022, the Supreme Court had also urged Parliament to consider amending POCSO and reducing the age of consent, taking into account teenage relationships.