A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court recently dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking to declare illegal the practice of non-therapeutic circumcision on children and make it a cognizable and non-bailable offence. Dismissing the petition filed by Non-Religious Citizens (NRC), an organisation based in Kollam, the Bench said the court was not a law-making body. Besides, the petition was based on newspaper reports. Therefore, it was not maintainable.
The petitioner contended that circumcision leads to several health problems other issues such as trauma in children. Traumatic events were marked by a sense of horror and helplessness. A child should have the right to believe or not to believe in any particular religion and follow or not to follow a specific practice or ritual. However, they were being compelled to undergo circumcision only because of the unilateral decision taken by parents, it was contended.
