Problem of Child Sexual Abuse and the Response of Judiciary: an Analytical Study

Child sexual abuse is a tragic reality of every society which has always been tried to hide. However, Child Sexual abuse is a social constriction and its definition and conceptualization are also socially constructed phenomena. Children are the most sensitive and delicate part of every family, society and Nation, hence the risk of their vulnerability are also very high. In such a situation, the increasing incident of sexual abuse against children is extremely frightening. The NCRB data released every year is also telling a similar horrifying picture. Whereas many cases occurring in homes remain unreported and unfortunately many children are forced to bear all pain of sexual abuse silently. Child sexual abuse is a very serious issue and should therefore be taken with utmost seriousness and sensitivity. considering the severity of problem in 2012, the POCSO Act was passed by parliament with the main objective of protection of children from various kind of sexual abuses and offence .In 2018 after a horrifying incident of khatua, in Jammu and Kashmir, some amendments were made in POCSO Act and IPC under which in some aggravated forms of sexual crime against children it has been added stringent provisions ranging from life imprisonment to death sentence. But all these legal remedies will prove to be completely useless. If our judicial system adopts the same criteria on such crimes as it does in others cases of sexual offences as seen in many judicial decisions. Majour Singh case, Mathura Rape case and Rahim Beg case are the few great example of injustice precedent.Keywords: child sexual abuse, sexual violence, molestation, criminal justice system, judiciary, protection of children, POCSO Act and IPC.