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EXCLUSIVE: Advocate Aileen Marques explains the POCSO Act and the legal procedure followed for the same
Aileen Marques informs that Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) ACT is aimed to protect children from sexual offences.
Content Warning: The article contains references to rape and abuse.
On Saturday, ANI reported that Naagin 3 actor Pearl V Puri has been arrested by Waliv and Mumbai Police. “He was arrested in connection with the rape of a minor. A case has been registered under Section 376 of IPC & POCSO Act: Mumbai Police,” read ANI’s Twitter post. Later, it was also reported that the Vasai Court has sent Puri to judicial custody. Meanwhile, Pinkvilla got in touch with Advocate Aileen Marques who helped us understand the legal proceedings in matters like this. She also explains the POCSO Act.
“Since it is a minor child, it will be a non-bailable offence because we have a POCSO Act enacted, which is Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) ACT 2012. Under that law, whenever there are POCSO charges they are non-bailable by and large - unless there are some specifics. Depending on the person’s relationship with the minor, we have something called an ‘aggravated offence’. Aggravated means if he/she was a person entrusted care of the minor, or he/she was someone in authority taking care of the minor, then aggravated offences are there - which are non bailable and quite extreme,” informs Marques.
She also explains the legal procedure in the matter. “Considering there is some time gap between the incident and the reporting of the incident, the child would have informed somebody about that incident. The POCSO Act has this clause of mandatory reporting. For instance, if I get to know that a child has been sexually assaulted it is my duty to report it, and if I don’t report it I may be prosecuted for non reporting. The legal process is - First an FIR would be lodged on the basis of the information provided by a guardian or a complainant, and depending on the age of the child, the parents or relatives will be the complainant. Prior to the FIR or thereafter depending on the nature of the assault, the child will be taken for medical examination and subsequently the spot panchanama will be done,” adds Marques.
Further explaining the POCSO ACT, Marques says, “Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) ACT being the title, it is aimed to protect children from sexual offences. It talks about protection and also prevention. The responsibility of awareness, etc., is a part of the law. So when you say sexual offences it also means showing pornography, using the child for pornographic images, or an adult showing the child his or her body parts - all of these falls under the ambit of sexual offences. There are different kinds of sexual assault - some are penetrative and some are non-penetrative. POCSO classifies offences into penetrative and non-penetrative sexual assaults. Earlier only penetrative sexual assault as per the IPC was given more weightage, but with POCSO even preparation for the Act is considered to be an offence. Even the abettor, for instance if someone has assisted the accused in that crime then that person as an abettor is also punishable under POCSO.”
The advocate also throws light on the meaning of the word ‘Remand’. “When someone is arrested that person has to be produced before a nearest magistrate within 24 hours of arrest, that is a mandate of law. When a person is presented before a magistrate, the magistrate has the power to remand that person i.e. keep that person in police custody or direct that person to judicial custody. When you say police custody, the person will be kept in a police chowki or a police station, whereby the police has immediate access to that person to carry on further investigation. And after the initial inquiries and investigations are done, then the person can be sent to judicial custody, which is a prison,” explains Marques.
(If you know someone who is struggling with abuse, please reach out and report about it. There are several helplines available for the same.)
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