New Delhi: The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday unanimously passed amendments to the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, which include meting out the death penalty for aggravated sexual assault on children and providing stringent punishment for other crimes against minors.
Speaking on the legislation in the Upper House, Trinamul Congress member Derek O’Brien recounted a traumatic incident from his childhood where he fell prey toa molester in a bus in Kolkata.
“With a lot of pride and sadness and hurt but I think India needs to know because my family knows, that on a bus in Kolkata as a 13-year-old after doing tennis practice, wearing short pants and a T-shirt, I got on to a crowded bus and I don’t know who it was, but with my short pants and T-shirt I was sexually molested,” he said.
The leader also suggested that more and more people in public life come out and speak about sexual abuse. He admitted that it took him many years to talk about the incident and urged other lawmakers to speak up about sexual assault or harassment.
The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday by women and child development minister Smriti Irani.
She began her reply to the debate by applauding Mr O’Brien. “That fact that an MP today shared what he faced at age 13...46 years later, tells us what an imprint sexual abuse leaves on a child,” the minister said. Rising to support the bill, Congress leader Vivek Tankha said, “I welcome the bill. But stringent provisions are not stopping such
incidents.”
He said the National Crime Record Bureau has no data on offences against children after 2016. The proposed changes to the Act also provide for fines and imprisonment to curb child pornography. To combat rising cases of child sex abuse, the Union Cabinet earlier this month approved amendments to strengthen the Act.
