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India Today / Archive / Special Report / April 1, 2013 / Story

DAMAYANTI DATTA MARCH 22, 2013 | UPDATED 07:33 IST

Age of Confusion

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Age of Confusion: Eighteen or sixteen? The fierce debate on age of consent shows how out of sync our laws are with public opinion or reality
TAGS: Age of consent | Parliament | Sex | Rape Hysteria has been the keystone of the controversy.

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When does a boy become a man? He can vote at age 18 but can't marry before age 21. No marriage, no fatherhood, right? No. The Majority Act of 1875 allows boys to adopt at 18. So when can a girl get married? At 18, under the Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929. Yet, under the Hindu Marriage Act of 1955, a marriage is valid, once solemnised, even if a girl is under 15. Who is an adult in India? There are at least five different definitions of who is an adult, and who is not, hidden in the nation's vast repertoire of over 30,000 Central and state laws. It's this fundamental contradiction that lies at the heart of the debate on age of consent (AOC)-the age below which 'consent' will not be a valid defence against a rape charge. It has split public opinion and divided legislators, sparking off a fierce debate from the streets to Parliament over the new anti-rape law. Should it be 18 or 16? Hysteria has been the keystone of the controversy. Conservatives shrieked down the notion of 16 as the age at which young Indians can legally engage in sexual acts, although it has been India's AOC ever since the Indian Penal Code was amended in 1983 and many countries around the world have lower cut-offs than India. Liberals pitched for 16 and hammered home the effect a raised AOC would have on young India, given the changing social realities. The highdecibel drama came to an end on March 20, as Parliament set 18 as the age-limit under the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013. Going by it, sexually-curious under-18 boys can now be arrested, put in prison and even be charged with rape, if caught. Click here to Enlarge Is it biology, law, society or politics that decides the age of adulthood? "Age of consent, or a definite minimum age to

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engage in sexual activity, is how we measure adulthood," says jurist Ram Jethmalani. But what does it mean to be an adult? Is it pursuing a career, buying property, getting married and having children? Or is it responsibility, free choice and financial independence? Shouldn't the cut-offs for voting, drinking, driving, contract, marriage or consent be consistent? "Age boundaries are drawn more for political reasons, not scientific ones," he says. Twenty-five years ago, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had lowered the voting age from 21 to 18, he points out, and brought in 99 million voters to the electorate. "It's foolish to have so many laws without streamlining an accepted age of majority." But AOC is a contested terrain globally. In the UK, AOC became a talking point in January with the government drawing up new laws on personal freedoms. "Across Europe, there have been calls for it to be lowered, as so many teenagers are sexually active at a younger age," says Ahin Choudhury, senior advocate with the Calcutta High Court. In 20 European nations, AOC is lower than 16, with the minimum of 13 in Spain. "These countries do not show any evidence that lower ages have led to more teen pregnancies, child abuse or sexual trafficking," he says. It was the marital rape and consequent death of an 11-year-old girl, Phulmonee, that first changed the minimum legal age for sexual intercourse in India from 10 to 12, way back in 1892. By 1949, with women agitating against the adverse effects of early pregnancy, the age was raised to 15. In 1983, amendments in the rape laws raised AOC to 16. "The problem started when the Government made 18 the cut-off in the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, November 2012, without any discussion. Not even with those working on children," says Kavita Krishnan, national secretary of All India Progressive Women's Association. Although the Justice J.S. Verma Committee, in its report after the Delhi gang-rape case, mandated 16 as the cut-off, the Centre hurriedly introduced the rape ordinance fixing AOC at 18. "It's clear the motivation is populist politics," says Krishnan. Courts, too, are raising a cautioning hand. "The legal system in our country cannot be used to punish youngsters in love," pointed out Delhi High Court Judge Kamini Lau, in the case of State vs Krishan Rai Chaudhary, August 2012. Refusing to send an 18-year-old Delhi boy to jail for eloping with his girl-friend, she stated: "It is time for legislators to have a rethink keeping in view the changing social attitudes and social sensibilities." Teenage has taken on a whole new meaning in a liberalised-globalised India. Time was when obedience was expected from children and 'No' was a parental right. "Children today have more opportunities, more choices, more knowledge and more expectations out of life," says Dr Manju Mehta, professor of clinical psychology at aiims, Delhi. And nowhere is this more obvious than in the way they express their sexuality: india today annual sex surveys since 2009 show that one in five teens watches porn before age 13 and one out of five claims to have had sex. If science had any place in the debate, age 18 would fall by the wayside. Medically, all body systems do not reach adult-level function at a specific age and 18 does not signify any major milestone, anatomically or physiologically. Neuroscientists say that although most of the brain's wiring matures by age 16, regions crucial for decision-making, anticipating consequences, rewards and risks do not reach maturity until the mid-20s. "There is no single age at which an adolescent becomes an adult," says neurobiologist Dr Sumantra Chattarji of the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore. So you can't drive a car before 18 although you can roam around the streets on a 50 cc two-wheeler at 16. You cannot apply for your first independent passport before age 15 but are deemed fit to work after completing age 14 in most states across India. Your guardians will have the right to take your decisions till you are 18 but if guardians are appointed by courts then you can be an adult only at 21. You cannot be convicted of any offence if you are below 12, given adult punishment for murder if under 18 or convicted of an offence punishable with death or life imprisonment if under 21. Age is not just a number. But for all the heated back and forth, the law has missed the target. By ignoring the reality that adolescents tend to experiment with sex, the law has created a new space to turn curious youngsters into criminals. And without a uniform definition of adulthood, it also does not solve the fundamental problem of defining who an adult is in India. No wonder the debate has taken a moralistic spin, confusing 'consent' with access to sex. Do you like this story? 0 0
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