Bombay High Court raises issue of consensual sex among minors.
The Bombay High Court recently granted bail to a 19-year-old youth and suspended his 10-year sentence for raping his minor cousin. In its order, the court said, “Incidents of consensual sex between minors has been a grey area under the law as minor’s consent is not valid in the eyes of law under Protection of Children from Sexual Offence Act (POCSO)”.
In September 2017, the minor was living in her paternal uncle’s house. She is reported to have told a friend that her cousin had touched her inappropriately and that her stomach hurts. The friend told their class teacher who inquired about the same from the victim and she told the teacher about being sexually harassed by the male cousin and described when, how and where she was subjected to penetrative assault by one of her cousins. The ordeal was then described to the school principal after which a FIR was registered against the boy under section 376 (2) (n)…