DNA EDIT: Age of consent should be 16

The government is likely to introduce the Anti-Rape Bill in Parliament today in which the age of consent has been fixed at 18 and not 16. Many groups were vehement that the age of consent should not be lower than the marriageable age of 18 years.

In India, the age of consent has been 16 since 1983. The Prevention of Child Sexual Offences Act raised it to 18 years four months ago and last month’s anti-rape ordinance simply followed that.

Establishing the age of consent is mainly to determine whether or not consensual sex between teenagers is to be defined as ‘rape’ or not.

Let’s face it. Most people in India find even consensual sex before marriage deeply offensive. However, it is also a fact that some boys and girls have sex before the age of 18. Setting the age of consent at 16 therefore is more realistic.

Under the proposed Anti-Rape Bill, any consensual sex by a boy with a girl below the age of 18 can be termed ‘rape’ with serious consequences for the boy. Not only that, the higher age of consent can be used by family members, khap panchayats and community leaders to harass boys and girls alike. If the government lacks the will to fight powerful lobbies (read conservative religious and community leaders), it could compromise with an age-proximity clause.

This means, boys closer in age to the girls, can be given lesser punishment when the sex is consensual and will not be treated at par with actual rapists.

Otherwise, the bill, might become a weapon in the hands of the moral police and destroy the lives of innocent and experimental youngsters.