CHILD RIGHTS IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM: NEED FOR LAW REFORM • There are child friendly procedures that include recording a child’s statement by the police and court, provision of a support person, police not in uniform, statement in the language of the child. As per Section 28 (1) of the POCSO Act, the state governments, in consultation with the Chief Justice of High Courts, should designate a Sessions Court as a special court to try offences under the POCSO Act to facilitate speedy trial. 8. ‘Criminalisation ‘of Adolescents under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 The minimum age of sexual consent is that age from which someone is deemed capable of consenting to sexual activity. The objective of the minimum age of sexual consent is to protect adolescents from sexual abuse and the consequences of early sexual activity on their rights and development. The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO) defines a “child” as anyone under the age of 18. The minimum age of sexual consent under POCSO is therefore 18 years. In practice, under POCSO, the increase in age of sexual consent to 18 years has resulted in a number of young couples in consensual and non-exploitative relationships, who have found themselves embroiled in the criminal justice system. These boys/young men are charged with sexual offences under the Indian Penal Code, 1860. The girls are treated as victims and sent back to their parents or institutionalised in children’s homes when they refuse to return to their parents or their parents refuse to accept them.49 Many parents use this age of sexual consent to complain against the adolescent boys in a consensual relationship with their daughters, when they disapprove of the relationship. Many young couples in consensual, non-exploitative relationships are treated on a par with rape because the consent of a “child” is irrelevant. The only option the couple has when facing criminal charges and imprisonment is to ask the High Court to drop the case by using 49 Swagata Raha, Shruthi Ramakrishnan, “Changing the age of consent,” The Hindu, September 05, 2022. 61