In India the “Age of Consent” to come into a sexual relationship is 16. Meaning thereby is the age at which a girl can give consent to sex. In the case of girls below the age of 16 years, her consent is not recognized by the law. Statutory Rape is known as when there is sexual intercourse below the age decided by the law. The Romeo and Juliet laws provide some degree of protection to those who violate statutory rape laws if the minor has consented to the sexual intercourse, and where the age difference between the minor and the alleged offender is less than three years (in many states, the maximum age gap is three years). Many jurisdictions allow consenting adults to have consensual sexual relations with someone slightly older.
Following this, The Madras High Court in the case of Sabari @ Sabarinathan @ Sabarivasan v. The Inspector of Police & Ors.[1] said that consensual relationships between the teenagers of the below “age of consent” that is between 16 and 18 years will not come under the purview of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, because POCSO Act provides no less than 7 or 10 years rigorous imprisonment under the act.
Adolescents, who are still undergoing hormonal and biological changes and whose decision-making abilities are still developing, should receive support and guidance from their parents and society as a whole. Seeing these incidents from an adult’s perspective will lead to a lack of empathy, which is the opposite of what should be done. An adolescent sent to prison for this crime will endure persecution for the rest of his life.