New Delhi . The Delhi High Court heard a case under the POCSO Act on Saturday. Justice Jairam Bhambhani said that under the POCSO Act, cases of penetrative sexual assault and aggravated penetrative sexual assault (forcibly molesting the private parts of children with something) can also be filed against women. Gender is not a shield in such cases. The court’s comment came on a petition filed by a woman. She argues that a case of penetrative sexual assault under section 3 of the POCSO Act and aggravated penetrative sexual assault under section 5 cannot be registered against a woman. Because their definition shows that only the pronoun he has been used in it. Which refers to a man, not a woman. A case was registered against the woman in the year 2018. In March 2024, the trial court framed charges against her under the POCSO Act. After this, the woman filed a petition in the High Court.
The court said in its order that the provisions of POCSO show that the word “she” used in Section 3 of the POCSO Act cannot be given the meaning that it is only for men. Its scope should include any offender (both male and female) without any gender distinction. It is true that the pronoun “she” is not defined anywhere in the POCSO Act.
POCSO act for children
The High Court said that in view of the provision of Section 2(2) of the POCSO Act, one should revert to the definition of the pronoun he, as in Section 8 of the IPC. It should be kept in mind that the POCSO Act has been made to protect children from sexual crimes. Whether the crime is committed by a man or a woman. The court should not interpret any provision of the law in a way which is different from the legislative intent and purpose. In the POCSO Act, the penetration of any object into the private parts of the child is a matter of penetration, not just any part of the body. Therefore, it is not correct to say that sexual crime is limited only to the penetration of the penis. The pronoun he used in Sections 3(a), 3(b), 3(c) and 3(d) of the POCSO Act should not be interpreted in such a way that the crime covered in those sections is limited only to men. A comparison of the crimes under Section 375 (rape) of the IPC and Sections 3 and 5 of the POCSO Act, on the other hand, reveals that the two offences are different.