POCSO Act must stop turning consensual relationships between adolescents into a crime

The POCSO law emerged after a prolonged effort to highlight the abuse of minors. However, a significant drawback is its excessively high age of consent, set at 18, which fails to consider teenage sexuality. This has resulted in widespread criminalization and infringements on adolescents' autonomy. This opinion was published in Moneycontrol on July 26, 2023.