Intimacy with below 18-yr-old not consensual: Panel

SHILLONG: The chairperson of Meghalaya State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Meena Kharkongor highlighted on Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, saying that the Act does not recognise ‘consent’ if the child is below 18 years age.
In a statement issued here, she said as per the POCSO, Act, 2012 anyone below the age of 18 years is considered a child and anyone violating this shall be booked under the relevant provisions of the Act.
Kharkongor added no one below the age of 18 can give consent as the Act does not recognise ‘consent’ when a child is minor.
Earlier, a football coach was accused of raping a 16-year-old girl in West Jaintia Hills, however, the police said that they suspect that Ebormi Sutnga and the girl was having an affair and that their physical intimacy was consensual.