WCD Minister Maneka Gandhi supports #MeToo, says happy to take up plaints

Union Minister of Women and Child Development (WCD) Maneka Gandhi on Monday came out in support of the #MeToo campaign and said she was happy to take up complaints. She has also written to Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to ask for a change in the law to do away with the statute of limitations in child sex abuse cases so that adults who have been subjected to sexual abuse can report their cases as adults.

"I'm very happy that the #MeToo campaign has started. I just hope it won't go out of control in the sense that we target people who have offended us in some way. I think women are responsible enough to not do that. Women are also angry that sexual molestation cases are not dealt with effectively in several places," Gandhi said.

In her letter to Prasad, Gandhi said that the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, which covers child sexual abuse, does not provide any statute of limitations. "In fact Section 19 of the Act makes it mandatory for any person, including the victim, to report such cases," she wrote.

However, Section 468 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) which lays down the statute of limitations for any offence punishable up to imprisonment for three years, as three years. "This means that offences with higher punishments (heinous crimes) are not covered by the period of limitation under CrPC 1973," Gandhi wrote.

She also urged survivors to come out and report cases and said that cases of child sexual abuse can be reported to the e-Box facility, while women who faced sexual harassment at the workplace should report it at the SHeBox portal.