Cheshta TaterCo-founder, Rightantra Did you know that child grooming is not recognised as an offence by itself? How do you then take action against the groomer? Read on to learn. Before I go on to elaborate on the legal aspects of grooming, you can read about identifying grooming here and its impact here.
In India, the primary law protecting children from sexual offences (and punishing offenders thereof) is the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Given that grooming is a precursor to sexual offences, one would reasonably expect it to be an offence too. However, it is not. Further, the Legislature has no intention of bringing grooming under POCSO in the near future. Instead, cyber-safety was included in the CBSE curriculum. Although it is important to teach children about safety measures, the prerogative to prevent grooming does not rest on them. Is it too much to ask for the inclusion of grooming under POCSO? Perhaps, yes. As we saw in Article 1, All Not Too Well, identifying grooming is not an easy task, especially in the initial stages. The accused can simply get away by using the defence of normal, friendly conversation. Therefore, both the Legislature and the Judiciary would have a hard time creating and interpreting such provisions, leading to delayed justice or conviction of the innocent. However, there are ways to report grooming actions. As pointed out many times, grooming is not an apparent act. By the time you find out that this “friendly behaviour” is actually child sexual grooming, one of the following would have occurred:
All of these are definitive signs of grooming. Further, IT DOES NOT MATTER IF THE MINOR HAS GIVEN CONSENT or is happily in such a relationship because minors do not have the capacity to give sexual consent. So these clearly are cases of child sexual abuse and harassment. If you are a victim or someone who knows of a victim or a groomer, immediately go and file an FIR in your nearest police station. These acts are punishable under the POCSO. If all or most actions have occurred online, you can also file a complaint of cybercrime.gov.in. We made a video for you to simplify the complaint filing procedure. Feel free to reach out to us at [email protected] or through Instagram for any assistance in the area of child rights and welfare. References for the Entire Series:
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