"Just a shameless thing for women and minor girls that, even their own family and known person did not support them in rape cases, why? She is your mother, she is your sister, she is your daughter. And this is how we failed as a society, as a parent, as a human being".

Introduction:
The sexual exploitation and abuse of minors is a grave issue in present scenario. This kind of abuse is frequently concealed by societal stigma, fear and shame and has adverse effects on victim's mental health, interpersonal relationships, and inter institutional trust. A recent study of 2023 reported, juveniles involved in 1874 cases of rape against minors in India. This highlights the troubling situation of sexual violence perpetrated by younger offenders emphasising the need for targeted intervention and preventive measures to address this issue effectively.

Laws Governing Rape Cases In India:

Bharatiya Nayaya Sanhita, 2023(i.e. BNS): Replacing the colonial- era Indian Penal Code, this law introduced punishment for rape including lifetime imprisonment or the death penalty for the rape, gang rape of minors under 18 in a more rigorous manner. Section 64 pertains about attempted rape, anyone attempting to commit rape shall be punished with imprisonment of minimum ten years which may extend to life imprisonment. Section 65(1) provides for rape of women under sixteen years of age &(2) provides for rape of women under twelve years of age punishment of rigorous imprisonment of twenty years which may extend to life imprisonment.

Criminal Law(Amendment) Act, 2013: Passed after the Nirbhaya case of 2012, this law increased. The minimum sentence for rape and introduced harsher penalties, particularly when the victim is a minor, crime results in death.

Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (i.e. POSCO): It protects minors from sexual assault, harassment and pornography. Section 4 addresses punishment for penetrative sexual assault, with minimum ten years imprisonment. Section 6 provides aggravated penetrative sexual assault punishment of minimum twenty years of rigorous imprisonment, which may extend to life imprisonment or even death penalty. Section 13 to 15 of act deal with punishment for use of children for pornographic purposes.

Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008: Enacted in India for the purpose of addressing various cybercrimes, including those related to child abuse and their exploitation in digital spaces. Section 67(b) provides punishment for publishing, transmitting or depicting children in sexually explicit act. For first conviction punishment upto five years and for subsequent conviction punishment upto seven years and fine.

Meaning Of Rape Of Minor:
Rape of minor is a type of sexual assault which involves sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration, being carried out against the will and without the consent of a child(who is below 18 years of age).

"Rape is something above will and consent".

Section 63 Of Bharatiya Nayaya Sanhita, 2023:

Understanding rape begins dissecting section 63 of Bharatiya Nayaya Sanhita the legal definition encompassing the various scenarios that qualify as rate ensuring clarity on the legal boundaries.

• Section 63 specifies certain acts including penetration, insertion, manipulation or oral contact, constituting rape.
• Differentiates consent under various circumstances, such as age, mental state and intoxication.
• Clarifies the meaning of "vagina" and consent for precise interpretation.

Reasons Of Increasing Rape Cases:

• "Rape as a joke": Now these days rape is just like any type of trend. Several persons and those who are rapists pass their lame jokes on rape instead of thinking that it's a crime which is done by people amidst society.
• Normalisation of rape: Rape is taken as a normal subject of discussion nowadays despite of the heinousness of crime.
• Sexist behaviour: Sexist's behaviour comes in good or bad way, in sense of humor, kindness and altruism, confidence and risk taking, emotional availability and social behaviour significantly contributing too.
• Victim blaming: The society blames victim instead of who are guilty in such rape cases.
• Alcoholism: Studies and research data shows that most of the rape cases and sexual assaults are conducted after giving some alcohol or intoxicating drink to the victims making it easier for perpetrator to ignore consent and for victims to resist.
• Misogynistic representation in media: Now these days the media including movies, TV shows, web series, social networking platforms,etc. frequently objectifies women and portrays them as a object of desire and contributes to a culture of sexual violence.
   

Relevancy In State Of Rajasthan:

As per a report of 2023, states with highest number of minor rape cases included Rajasthan on 5th number and with highest number of juvenile rape cases in India included Rajasthan on being 2nd number after Uttar Pradesh.

In 2024, there have been 794 reported cases of rape involving minors in Rajasthan from January to June this marks in 8.03% increase compared to the same 2023.In 2023, juveniles were involved in 1874 cases of rape against minors in India. Almost 14,731 cases of sexual crimes against minor girls were recorded under the protection of children from sexual offences act (POCSO Act)between 2021 and 2024 in Rajasthan state government stated in the legislative assembly.

According to RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network)website a third of perpetrators, who are primarily men, are juveniles such as family, acquaintances, relatives, neighbours, or babysitters.

"It's not a joke, it is entire life of a child affected".
 

Rape Cases In Rajasthan Involving Child:

• Ajmer rape case: As per an article of minor rape case in Ajmer from Times of India dated on April,6,2024 minor 17 year old 12th class student was debarred from appearing in her board exams as she was a rape survivor and it would affect other students and defame the institution's reputation among the parents.
   
• Kota rape case: A 16 year old NEET aspirant was gang raped in Kota by her own classmate with whom she befriended on social media, in which one of the student raped her and the other three helped him in committing the crime as the article suggested from Times of India dated on February,16,2024.
   
• Ajmer sex scandal: The Ajmer sex scandal came into light in 1992 in which girls between 11 to 20 years age, over more than 100 victims who studied in a famous private school in Ajmer were allegedly raped, blackmailed, harassed by the rapists over the time period. The victims in meanwhile time committed suicides, got molested, became social stigma and got their personal life's adversely affected by the rapists and the society making them feel like a burden on their families. The accused men used their power and influence as they had strong political and social connections. Some of them were associated with the famous Dargah (muslim religious shrine) in the city. It's judgement came after 32 years sentencing the 6 main culprits out of 18 to life imprisonment.
   
• Bhilwara rape case: The rape case of a 14 year old girl after she left her home for grazing cattle on August, 2,2023. The two convicts among 9 persons involved in crime revealed that after raping the girl they threw her into the coal furnace and later disposed of her body parts in a pond to mislead the investigators as per an article of The Hindu dated on May,20,2024.
   
• Mavali rape case: Another shocking article of rape of a minor in Mavali, Udaipur in which the court convicted the 21 year old accused of death sentence as it was considered a heinous rape case. The accused firstly raped the girl and strangulated her to death then chopped her body into pieces, kept them in different poly bags and dumped them almost 200 metres away from the house of girl on the same day. The parents of the accused were also sentenced 4 years of imprisonment for aiding and destroying the evidences as per the article by NBT+ on November,4,2024.

Measures To Prevent Rape Of Minors:

There should be strict laws in punishment by government to the rapist/accused.

No blaming, society should not be blaming for what happened to the victim, instead the society and government should help the victims socially as well as economically.

In this new generation era, the Internet access is generally going at top and foremost. There should be a criteria for the minors and the adults to browse the Internet depth as it provides unlimited results to the searches despite of the age and mental status of the user.

Sex education is very important in general whether is a minor or an adult, because the major thing which comes out in most cases is consent. So,when someone does sexual intercourse with their consent, it will not be considered a rape.

Laws regarding publication, transmission, depiction of minor children in pornographic videos are of serious concern in today's digital generation.

In case of juvenile offenders involved in rape cases they should be treated as per the grievousness of the crime and mental state (aware of the consequences of the act) of the offender.

Punishments in various legislative laws regarding rape of specially minors in Bharatiya Nayaya Sanhita Act(BNS), Protection Of Children From Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, Information Technology Act, etc. should be more strict and rigorous to prevent the people from committing rapes.

Proper rehabilitation, counselling facilities should be provided to the victim survivors so they get can get over the incident and get normalised.

Conclusion
The rape of minors is a problem of serious concern in today's time.The reason of why minor rape cases are increasing has been deeply rooted within society and use of advanced technology as a child in such age has no knowledge of crime being committed against. The rape cases of minors should be subjected to speedy trial for justice to be endured properly in society.It serves as a reminder for collective duty of Legislature, Executive and Judiciary to make, implement and just(check) laws regarding minor's safety.

References:

• https://rainn.org/statistics/children-and-teens
• https://devgan.in/bns/chapter_05.php#s64
• https://devgan.in/bns/chapter_05.php#s65
• https://www.indiacode.nic.in/show-data?abv=null&statehandle=null&actid=AC_CEN_13_14_00005_201232_1517807323686&
• https://www.indiacode.nic.in/show-data?actid=AC_CEN_13_14_00005_201232_1517807323686&orderno=6
• https://kanoongpt.in/bare-acts/the-information-technology-act-2000/chapter-xi-section-67b-fbb1f142f1d18c2f
• https://devgan.in/bns/chapter_05.php#s63
• https://amigosias.com/explained/addressing-the-rising-rape-cases-in-india-legal-and-societal-reforms-needed/?utm_source=perplexity
• zeenews.india.com Fphotos Flifestyle Ftop-10-most-dangerous-states-in-india-for-females-2779628&utm_campaign=aga&utm_source=agsadl1 Csh Fx Fgs Fm2 F4
• www.hindustantimes.com Fcities Fjaipur-news F14731-sexual-crimes-against-girls-reported-from-rajasthan-since-2021-govt-data-101721128084634-amp.html&utm_campaign
• https://images.app.goo.gl/a9MX4JvyywDjTgQVA
• https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/student-16-raped-in-kota-4-held/articleshow/107733590.cms
• https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/rajasthan/1992-ajmer-sex-scandal-pocso-court-awards-life-sentence-to-six-persons/article68547161.ece?utm_source=perplexity
• https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/rajasthan/two-sentenced-to-death-by-pocso-court-in-rajasthan-court-for-raping-burning-alive-minor-girl/article68195867.ece
• https://navbharattimes.indiatimes.com/state/rajasthan/udaipur/rajasthan-8-year-girl-raped-murdered-body-chopped-into-10-pieces-case-judge-gave-accused-death-sentence/articleshow/114950143.cms

Written By:

• Swati Khadiya, Students Of 4th Year At University College Of Law, Mohanlal Sukhadiya University, Udaipur.
• Shaeen Banu, Students Of 4th Year At University College Of Law, Mohanlal Sukhadiya University, Udaipur.
• Nisha Dhaker, Students Of 4th Year At University College Of Law, Mohanlal Sukhadiya University, Udaipur.