HYDERABAD: The Protection of Children against Sexual Offences Bill cleared by the Union Cabinet says sex under the age of 18, even if consensual, will be deemed as statutory rape.It is an offence that will be tried under the Juvenile Justice Act and carries a maximum punishment of three years imprisonment.The bill has generated a heated debate among teenagers, parents and experts in the twin cities.“Why do you need a law to have sex? That just sounds very funny. Are people really going to monitor? There is no point in increasing the age to 18,” opines an 18-year-old engineering student who wished not to be named.Sharing his views, Ashwin Athreya, another engineering student, fumes, “According to me, 16 is better. By the time you’re 18, there is a lot of peer pressure and you have to find a place for yourself and fit in. But 16 is good enough an age to take a mature decision, if you are clear about what you want.” 17-year-old Anirudh agrees. “We do not need the law and we do think more than once before taking any step. We are selfregulated,” he claims.Girls, though, seem to be happy with the proposed law. “I think it should be 21 and not 18. Teens are not smart enough to know about using protection. They are just eager to try things without realising the consequences. By 21, I think we will be mature,” says Akila Chapa, 16, a student of Sri Chaitanya.Another 17- year-old Shikha Halakder, a student of Villa Marie, believes, “at 16, one can hardly be decisive. And making it 18 is sensible.One will be in a better position to know what he/ she wants.” Parents are more or less unanimous in their support for the proposed legislation. Expressing a sigh of relief, Anuja Rao, a mother of two teenagers, points out, “this will at least instil some amount of fear among children.With the amount of content available online, kids are fed with a lot of unnecessary information for their age.” Sudeshna Sridhar, mother of a child, also believes that the coming law will at least make children more careful.Surprising as it may seem, the issue has evoked mixed reactions from experts like sociologists and lawyers.Tina Fernandes, Department of Psychology, St Francis Degree College For Women, reasons, “It’s very tempting for kids these days to explore a lot of things, when their moral values are not strong enough. There is a certain need to feel important and loved. The curiosity is really high which might definitely land them in trouble.” For this reason, she points out, parents and teachers should work on strengthening moral values among children. "We should stop branding them as it will only increase guilt and shame. The society should stop being conservative and change with the time. Make this an informed choice for them.They are experiencing reality and if they feel like it, so what?” she opines.However, Jayanti Sunder Rajan, a psychologist from the Roshni Counselling Centre, argues, “age should be increased even more.I think 18 in itself is also not the right age as they are not ready physically and 16 should be completely ruled out as neither the body nor the mind is ready.Kids will browse all the content available on the internet and the situation will now worsen as now they have the power of law in their hands.It is like an addiction, once they experience it, it is really difficult to get away from it.” Pointing at the legal loopholes in the bill, Abhinav Rao, an advocate, explains, “the proposed law is regressive as the offence would be deemed as a statutory rape.If the aim is to reduce child abuse cases, I don’t think this can be effective as the age group of both the partners has not been mentioned.The issue is sensitive and the law needs to be clearer before it can be proposed.” He also warns that it could be used by the moral police to harass youngsters.
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