The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act is a comprehensive law designed to protect children from sexual assault, sexual harassment, and pornography while safeguarding the interests of the child at every stage of the judicial process by incorporating child-friendly mechanisms for reporting, recording of evidence, investigation, and speedy trial of offenses through designated Special Courts. The POCSO Act recognizes different forms of sexual abuse, including but not limited to sexual harassment, pornography, penetrative and non-penetrative assault, and criminalizes acts of immodesty against children too. The Act is gender-neutral and applies to both boys and girls under the age of 18. The Act was passed by the Indian Parliament in 2012 and became effective on November 14, 2012. The Act seeks to put children first by making it easy to use by including mechanisms for child-friendly reporting, recording of evidence, investigation, and speedy trial of offenses through designated Special Courts. The Act provides for a variety of offenses under which an accused can be punished, and it recognizes forms of penetration other than penile-vaginal penetration. In 2019, the POCSO Act was amended and made more stringent, raising the minimum punishment for penetrative assault from 7 to 10 years and 20 years if the victim was below 16 years of age, with a maximum punishment of life imprisonment with a provision for the death penalty for aggravated penetrative assault.