Archive · 16 Jan 2026
Kerala High Court Tightens POCSO Age Verification Rules
The Kerala High Court recently made a big decision about how to figure out the age of a child who is a victim in a crime.
Before, some people were trying to use rules from a different law to say the age couldn't be proven, but the court said that's not right.
Now, any legal way can be used to find out the age of a victim in these cases.
This means bad people can't trick the system as easily.
The court even kept a 10-year punishment for a man who hurt a little girl, saying no to his complaint about the first decision from 2019.
Kerala High Court ruled that the age of a minor survivor in POCSO cases can be determined through any legally available method, not just the Juvenile Justice Act.
Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas upheld a 10-year rigorous imprisonment sentence for a man convicted of raping a minor girl.
The court dismissed the man's appeal against a 2019 trial court verdict.
The ruling aims to prevent perpetrators from exploiting procedural technicalities to escape justice.
The court observed that there cannot be absolute restrictions on methods for determining the age of a victim in POCSO offenses.
- Who
- Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas of the Kerala High Court
- What
- Upheld a conviction under the POCSO Act, clarifying age determination methods
- When
- Recent ruling (exact date not specified)
- Where
- Kerala High Court, India
- Why
- To prevent perpetrators from exploiting procedural technicalities to escape justice
- Court
- Kerala High Court
- Justice
- Bechu Kurian Thomas
- Act
- Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act
- Sentence
- 10-year rigorous imprisonment
- Appeal
- Dismissed
- Original Verdict Year
- 2019
