NEW DELHI: Clarifying the law for adult survivors of child sexual abuse willing to come out and report the case even decades after it happened, the government on Tuesday put out a statement that “an y survivor, at any age, can complain about the sexual abuse faced by him/her as a child”.

Minister for women and child development Maneka Gandhi has asked the victims to report the cases on the Pocso e-box on the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights website.

“The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 does not provide for any period of limitation for reporting sexual abuse offences,” Gandhi said. She had written to law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on October 3 putting forth the ministry’s view based on a scrutiny of existing laws that there is no limit for reporting cases of child sexual abuse and asked the law ministry to “ratify” the same to enable survivors to take action and enforcement agencies to act with clarity.

In a statement issued by the WCD ministry on Tuesday, it pointed out that they had consulted the ministry of law in view of the overriding provisions of the Pocso Act over other criminal laws and provisions of mandatory reporting of such offences.

