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PROTECTION OF CHILDREN FROM SEXUAL OFFENCES ACT, 2012

Preamble - THE PROTECTION OF CHILDREN FROM SEXUAL OFFENCES ACT, 2012


THE PROTECTION OF CHILDREN FROM SEXUAL OFFENCES ACT, 2012
[Act No. 32 of 2012]
[19th June, 2012]
PREAMBLE
An Act to protect children from offences of sexual assault, sexual harassment and
pornography and provide for establishment of Special Courts for trial of such offences and
for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
Whereas clause (3) of article 15 of the Constitution, inter alia, empowers the State to
make special provisions for children;
And whereas, the Government of India has acceded on the 11th December, 1992 to
the Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted by the General Assembly of the
United Nations, which has prescribed a set of standards to be followed by all State
parties in securing the best interests of the child;
And whereas it is necessary for the proper development of the child that his or her
right to privacy and confidentiality be protected and respected by every person by all
means and through all stages of a judicial process involving the child;
And whereas it is imperative that the law operates in a manner that the best interest
and well being of the child are regarded as being of paramount importance at every
stage, to ensure the healthy physical, emotional, intellectual and social development
of the child;
And whereas the State parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child are
required to undertake alt appropriate national, bilateral and multilateral measures to
prevent--
(a) the inducement or coercion of a child to engage in any unlawful sexual
activity;
(b) the exploitative use of children in prostitution or other unlawful sexual
practices;
(c) the exploitative use of children in pornographic performances and materials;
And whereas sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children are heinous crimes and
need to be effectively addressed.
Be it enacted by Parliament in the Sixty-third Year of the Republic of India as follows:-
-

Section 1 - Short title, extent and commencement

(1) This Act may be called the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.
(2) It extends to the whole of India, 1[***].
(3) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by
notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.

1. Omitted by Jammu And Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, w.e.f. 31.10.2019 the previous text was:-

, "except the State of Jammu and Kashmir"


Section 2 - Definitions

(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, --
(a) "aggravated penetrative sexual assault" has the same meaning as assigned
to it in section 5;
(b) "aggravated sexual assault" has the same meaning as assigned to it in
section 9;
(c) "armed forces or security forces" means armed forces of the Union or
security forces or police forces, as specified in the Schedule;
(d) "child" means any person below the age of eighteen years;
1
[(da) "child pornography" means any visual depiction of sexually explicit
conduct involving a child which include photograph, video, digital or computer
generated image indistinguishable from an actual child and image created,
adapted, or modified, but appear to depict a child;]
(e) "domestic relationship" shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in
clause (f) of section 2 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act,
2005(43 of 2005);
(f) "penetrative sexual assault" has the same meaning as assigned to it in
section 3;
(g) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
(h) "religious institution" shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in the
Religious Institutions (Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1988(41 of 1988);
(i) "sexual assault" has the same meaning as assigned to it in section 7;
(j) "sexual harassment" has the same meaning as assigned to it in section 11;
(k) "shared household" means a household where the person charged with the
offence lives or has lived at any time in a domestic relationship with the child;
(l) "Special Court" means a court designated as such under section 28;
(m) "Special Public Prosecutor" means a Public Prosecutor appointed under
section 32.
(2) The words and expressions used herein and not defined but defined in the Indian
Penal Code(45 of 1860), the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973(2 of 1974), 2[the
Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (2 of 2016)] and the
Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000) shall have the meanings respectively
assigned to them in the said Codes or the Acts.

1. Inserted by Protection Of Children From Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act, 2019, w.e.f. 16.08.2019.
2. Substituted by Protection Of Children From Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act, 2019, w.e.f. 16.08.2019 for the
following:-
"the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 (56 of 2000)"


Section 3 - Penetrative sexual assault


A person is said to commit "penetrative sexual assault" if--
(a) he penetrates his penis, to any extent, into the vagina, mouth, urethra or
anus of a child or makes the child to do so with him or any other person; or
(b) he inserts, to any extent, any object or a part of the body, not being the
penis, into the vagina, the urethra or anus of the child or makes the child to do
so with him or any other person; or