TMC MP Derek O'Brien, while speaking in Parliament on the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill, 2019, opened up about the time he was sexually molested in a crowded bus when he was a child. "On a bus in Kolkata as a 13-year-old after tennis practice with my short pants and t-shirt, I was sexually molested," he said.
The senior TMC member recalled that he did not speak about the incident for several years, and brought it up with his parents much later in the life.
O'Brien was one of the voices in support of the amendment which allowed death penalty for aggravated sexual assaults.
Moving the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill, 2019, Union Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani said: "The amendments I move today are ensuring that those who rape our children, especially cases of gang-rape, will be met by death".
The proposed changes in the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act also provide for fines and imprisonment to curb child pornography.
The minister observed that many cases have come to light which show how children have become more vulnerable with evolving technology and therefore, one of the biggest amendments to the Bill is the definition of child pornography.
"Today, through this amendment we seek to define child pornography but we don't limit it only to videos. The amendment through definition of child pornography expands it to visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a minor or a child which will include photographs, video, digital or photo generated images," Irani said.
Elaborating on the provisions of the Bill, she said, it proposes that under Section 15, a fine of Rs 5,000 is introduced on the first occasion with regards to punishment for storage of pornographic material involving a child.
(With PTI inputs)
