Beyond Statutory Protection: Evaluating The Effectiveness of The POCSO Act in Balancing Child Safety, Due Process and Victim-Centric Justice in India

Abstract

The issue of child sexual abuse (CSA) is widely expressed but underreported in India, due to both structural inequalities and patriarchal family structure, stigma of child sexual abuse, and failures in the child protection system. Lack of a child-specific legal framework over the decades led to the absence of a child-focused prosecution based on the general provisions of the Indian Penal Code, which could not address the special vulnerabilities of children and the necessity of child-oriented procedures. With the adoption of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, the legislative landscape to adopt a rights-based and victim-centred approach was changed, where gender-neutral crimes, special courts, reporting requirements, and procedural safeguards were introduced to prioritize the best interests of the child. The adoption of the POCSO Act has produced intricate legal and ethical controversies, even though it was implemented with a progressive objective. One of the key issues is the increasing tension between the need to protect the child well, the constitutional right to due process of the accused and the constraints of providing victim-centred justice in an already overloaded criminal justice system. The assumptions of presumption of guilt, reverse burden of proving, compulsory reporting, and heavy sentence provisions have cast doubts on their proportionality, right to be retried and the danger of over-criminalisation, especially where adolescents are concerned and where the relationship was consensual. The methodology of this paper is both mixed and empirical. The doctrinal part entails critical evaluation of statutory clauses and the constitutional tenets and the judicial interpretations, whilst the empirical part is based on secondary data regarding the official crime statistics, policy reports and selected case laws to gauge the patterns of enforcement and their consequences. The paper concludes that the POCSO Act has enhanced legal acknowledgement of the CSA and increased the visibility of reporting, but its functionality is weakened by the gaps in implementations, bureaucracy, the lack of institutional readiness, and the absence of due process issues. The paper observes that the absence of subtle judicial discretion, a reinforced system of victim support and reforms that are sensitive to the context, the Act risks focusing on punitive symbolism at the expense of substantive and equitable justice.