Any medical practitioner, hospital or other facility administering emergency care to a sexually abused child is prohibited from demanding a legal or magisterial requisition or other documentation as a pre-requisite, according to the revised draft rules of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.The identity and privacy of the child will have to be protected and emergency treatment will have to be given in the presence of the parent or guardian or any other person in whom the victim has trust and confidence.
The rules, drafted by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and put up for comments by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, make it mandatory for any medical practitioner of a health facility to attend on an abused child for treatment of cuts, bruises and other injuries, sexually transmitted diseases, treatment for exposure to HIV, including prophylaxis for HIV after consultations with experts. Possible pregnancy and emergency contraceptives should be discussed with the pubertal child and her parent, and wherever necessary, a referral or consultation for mental or psychological health or other counselling should be made. Special courts to be set up under the Act, while ordering compensation to the victim, will take into account the gravity of offence and severity of the bodily injury. Other factors are the expenditure incurred on treatment for physical or mental health, loss of educational opportunity as a consequence of the offence; relation of the child to the offender, if any; and whether the abuse was an isolated incident.Whether the child has become pregnant, contracted HIV or any other sexually transmitted disease or suffered disability because of the assault will also be taken into consideration. The special court may, in appropriate cases, order an interim compensation to meet the immediate needs of the child for relief and rehabilitation at any stage after registration of the First Information Report. It shall be adjusted against the final compensation, if any.
