BETWEEN INNOCENCE AND AGENCY: NAVIGATING ADOLESCENT RELATIONSHIPS, CONSENT, AND CRIMINAL LIABILITY UNDER INDIAN LAW

AUTHOR – ESHVEE DESHWAL, STUDENT AT AMITY UNIVERSITY NOIDA

BEST CITATION – ESHVEE DESHWAL, BETWEEN INNOCENCE AND AGENCY: NAVIGATING ADOLESCENT RELATIONSHIPS, CONSENT, AND CRIMINAL LIABILITY UNDER INDIAN LAW, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 6 (7) OF 2026, PG. 273-284, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344.

Abstract

The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, was a landmark step toward safeguarding minors from sexual abuse and exploitation in India. However, by establishing an absolute age of consent at eighteen and imposing strict liability, the legislation has unintentionally created a severe socio-legal crisis: the criminalization of consensual adolescent relationships. This paper critically investigates the complex intersection of teenage sexuality, consent, and criminal liability under the current Indian legal framework.

By analyzing statutory history, recent judicial trends, and the real-world impact of mandatory minimum sentencing, this research highlights the acute dilemma constitutional courts face when forced to prosecute young adults for mutual romance. Sociological data and court dockets increasingly show that the Act is frequently weaponized by families to penalize elopements or self-chosen relationships, often ignoring the psychological and developmental realities of adolescence. Furthermore, the paper draws on comparative global frameworks such as the “close-in-age” or “Romeo and Juliet” exemptions found in other jurisdictions to argue that India’s rigid age-based liability model disproportionately traumatizes the very youth it was designed to protect. Ultimately, this study advocates for urgent legislative reforms to establish a graded, nuanced approach to statutory rape, distinguishing malicious predatory abuse from consensual adolescent exploration, thereby ensuring a more just, balanced, and empathetic legal system.