Age to Report Child Sexual Abuse May Be Increased to 30 Years

Ministry earlier sought a change in CrPC to allow filing of complaints of child sexual abuse many years after crime.

File image of Union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi. 

(Photo: IANS)

In a move to strengthen support to survivors of sexual abuse as minors, the Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) has submitted a proposal to raise the age to report sexual abuse till the survivors are 30 years old.

Nine months before the proposal was sent it, the WCD ministry had stated that they will seek a change in the CrPC which will allow filing of complaints of child sexual abuse many years after the crime.

Currently Section 468 of the CrPC lays down the the Statute of Limitations, that is, the time limitations for filing a complaint after an offence has taken place.

Any offence punishable with a fine needs to be reported within six months, whereas one carrying a term one year has a period of limitation of a year. If a crime is punishable between one and three years, it has to be reported within three years and for anything beyond a three-year jail term, there is no time restriction for reporting the crime.

In January, 53-year-old Indian-origin scientist from Canada, a survivor of child sexual abuse, had asked for legislative amendments to allow victims to report such crimes even years later in a meeting with Gandhi, reports Firstpost.

The ministry has sought changes to section 473 of the CrPC which allows court to take cognisance of an offence even after the expiry of the period of limitation provided “the delay has been properly explained or that it is necessary to do so in the interests of justice".

(With inputs from Firstpost.)