The Gwalior bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court, on June 27, requested the Centre to reduce the age of consensual physical relations between a man and a woman to 16 years, citing that this arrangement has caused "Injustice with adolescent boys".
The judgement came in response to a rape case reported on July 17, 2020, the FIR for which was also directed to be quashed. It said that because of the amendments under Section 375 of IPC regarding age of prosecutrix for the purpose of consent, the "fabric of society has been disturbed".
It is worth noting that the age of consent in most European countries is 18; the lowest age in the continent being 14. The age of consent in South Korea was previously 13, one of the youngest in the world, but it is now 20. This may depend on the environment that children grow up in and therefore, what level of maturity they reach before they can consent to a sexual act.
Self-control is great value, which our generation seems to be lacking. If everyone goes around doing what seems right to them, we would be no better than animals. It can be agreed upon that children are reaching puberty at an early age, but that doesn't equate to maturity. They should be at an age to make decisions from their mind, rather than being swayed by their urges.
The age of consent is also based upon if a woman can carry a child at the said age. "Injustice to boys" cannot be a reason to put "girls" through that level of pain.
Further, if the internet is a cause for such problems in our society, laws should be amended to gain some control over what age group gets to see what type of content.
Report by Saumya Singh
Graphics by Garima Puri
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