Members of the Vaastav Foundation are now planning to write to the local government body in every state to request the State governments to try girls as adults for serious sexual abuse cases
Men's rights activists are demanding that 16 to 18-year-old girls be tried as adults under the sexual offences act to explore the possibility that they may have seduced an underage boy.
In a disturbingly unique case, a 12-year-old boy from Kerala became the youngest father in the country after a 17-year-old girl delivered a baby girl. DNA tests showed that the boy and the baby were related.
As a result, Kochi police filed a case against the boy under Rape and Protection of Children from the stringent Sexual Offences Act (POCSOA) which raised the question whether the girl had sexually abused the boy. Men's rights activists in Mumbai have condemned gender-biased laws and are demanding that 16-18-year-old girls be treated as adults in such cases.
The Child Welfare Committee has taken custody of the baby girl, and the boy is out on bail after he was tried by the Juvenile Court.
"Boys/men are always blamed by society and the government after a minor girl is impregnated. But in this case, the girl could have sexually abused the boy," says Amit Deshpande, president and founder of Vaastav Foundation. "Shockingly, the girl did not report the incident to the police as she is related to the boy, but the state government went ahead and booked him without verifying whether he was the victim."
Members of the Vaastav Foundation are now planning to write to the local government body in every state to request the State governments to try girls as adults for serious sexual abuse cases. "The girl should also be held responsible for abusing minor boys," said Deshpande.
Senior advocate Majeed Memon says the girl can be tried as an adult as per the amended Juvenile Justice act; if she was over 18, she would have been booked for sexually abusing the 12-year-old under the Juvenile Justice Act.
"The court will decide if the 17-year-old girl abused the 12-year-old boy," says Memon. "Though the girl is a minor and the boy is younger than her, the case cannot reach a conclusion as their consent does not matter, since they are not adults."
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