Lok Sabha takes up Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill

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The Lok Sabha has taken up the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill, 2019. The bill seeks for enhancing punishment, including a provision for death penalty, for committing sexual crimes against children. 

To curb child pornography, the Bill provides that those who use a child for pornographic purposes should be punished with imprisonment up to five years and fine. However, in the event of second or subsequent conviction, the punishment would be up to seven years and fine. 

The Bill defines child pornography as any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a child including photograph, video, digital or computer-generated image indistinguishable from an actual child. 

According to the amendment bill, those committing penetrative sexual assaults on a child below 16 years of age would be punished with imprisonment up to 20 years, which might extend to life imprisonment as well as fine. 

Moving the Bill, Women and child development minister Smriti Irani said, time has now come to define what is child pornography.