The Union Cabinet came down strongly on child sexual abuse and has approved the amendment to the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 to include death penalty for committing the crime.

Chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Cabinet approved the proposal for amendment to make punishments more stringent.

The amendment in Section 4, Section 5, Section 6, Section 9, Section 14, Section 15 and Section 42 of the Act is made to address the aspects of child sexual abuse in an appropriate manner. The modification is made to address the need for stringent measures required to deter the rising trend of child sex abuse in the country, a note released by the government said.

The amendments are also proposed in Section 9 to protect children from sexual offences in times of natural calamities and disasters and in cases where children are administered any hormone or any chemical substance to attain early sexual maturity for the purpose of penetrative sexual assault.

To address the menace of the child pornography, Section 14 and Section 15 of the POCSO Act, 2012 are also proposed to be amended.

“It is proposed to levy fine for not destroying or deleting or reporting the pornographic material involving a child. The person can be further penalised with jail term or fine or both for transmitting, propagating and/or administrating such material in any manner except for the purpose of reporting as may be prescribed and for use as evidence in court. Penal provisions have been made more stringent for storing and/or possessing any pornographic material in any form involving a child for commercial purpose,” the note said.