POCSO Act is Gender Neutral And a Woman can be Made Accused: Karnataka HC

It is absolutely most significant to note that in a path breaking step with far reaching consequences affecting minors, the Karnataka High Court in a most learned, laudable, landmark, logical and latest judgment titled Smt. Archana Patil v. State of Karnataka in Criminal Petition No. 12777 of 2024 that was reserved on 1.7.2025 and then finally pronounced on 18.8.2025 while declaring that the offence of penetrative sexual assault can be alleged even against a woman under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, as this law is gender-neutral has refused to quash a criminal case against a 52-year-old woman who allegedly compelled a 13-year-old minor boy for sex with her at her residence here during 2020.

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It must be disclosed here that the two instances of sexual assault had allegedly taken place between May and June 2020, when the accused women Archana, an artist aged around 48 and the boy who was around 13 years and 10 months old then and complaint was filed by the victim minor boy’s family. The petition of the woman was thus rejected by the Karnataka High Court and it was held explicitly by the Single Judge Bench comprising of Hon'ble Mr Justice M. Nagaprasanna who authored this notable judgment that woman would also be subject to the provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, noting very rightly that the law was “gender neutral”.

At the very outset, this progressive, pragmatic, persuasive and pertinent judgment sets the ball in motion by first and foremost putting forth precisely in para 1 that, “The petitioner, the sole accused, now seeks sanctuary before this Court invoking its extraordinary jurisdiction under Section 482 of the Cr.P.C. challenging the legality of proceedings initiated in Spl.C.C.No.2050 of 2024 pending before the Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge, Bangalore City (FTSC-1) arising out of crime in Crime No.533 of 2024, a case which bears grave imprint of offences alleged under Sections 4 and 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 ('Act' for short).”

To put things in perspective, the Bench then envisages in para 2 stating that, “The brief tapestry of facts, interwoven, are as follows:-