 bill no 173 of  2017 the protection of children from sexual offences (amendment) bill, 2017 by shrimati poonam mahajan, mp a billfurther to amend the protection of children from sexual offences act, 2012be  it enacted by parliament in the sixty-eighth year of the republic of india as follows:—short title and commencement1 (1) this act may be called the protection of children from sexual offences(amendment) act, 20175(2) it shall come into force as on such date as the central government may, by notificationin the official gazette, appoint32 of 20122  after section 38 of the protection of children from sexual offences act, 2012, thefollowing section shall be inserted, namely:—insertion of new section 38a acquittal by special court"38a (1) in case of any person being acquitted by the special court, the court shall set forth detailed reasoning as to the following: —10(a) whether the accused has been acquitted because of the reason ofinnocence or because of the prosecution having failed to meet the burden of proof to prove the guilt; or(b) in case of the prosecution having failed to meet the burden of proof to prove the guilt, the court shall identify and name all the persons responsible for such lapses including the public prosecutor or the police officers involved, if any5(2) in case the accused is acquitted by reason of the prosecution having failed to meet the burden of proof and such accused person is also related to the child, it is clarified that such acquittal shall not automatically entitle the accused to—(i) claim custody or visitation rights to such child; or10(ii) have any kind of access to the child, except through an order of a family court, which shall hold an independent inquiry to determine the guilt of the accused through preponderance of probabilities" statement of objects and reasonsthe union ministry of women and child development in its study on child abuse conducted in 2007 stated that out of fifty three per cent of children reporting child sex abuse, fifty per cent had suffered intra-familial abuseindia is obligated to evolve adequate measures to protect child sex abuse victims from their offending parents which aligns with the right against discrimination and the right to health and dignity contained in articles 15 and 21 of the constitution, respectively coupled with society's denial of incest, an offending father despite the said prohibition accompanying bail, can influence the child through lawfully awarded interim visitation rights thereby stalling prosecution efforts against him no explicit legislative prohibition exists against the granting of custody or visitation rights to fathers committing a sexual offence pending conviction in a criminal trial experts caution against the granting of monitored visitation to offending parents because their very presence may trigger in the child traumatic memories of abuse, feelings of being unsupported and lead to recanting of allegations against the offender thereby resulting in compromising criminal trial against the parentthe rationale behind government preparing guidelines from custodial and visitation claims by offending fathers is aimed at ensuring that the child should not be forced to meet him the child's relationship with mother should be strengthened by recognising her as the sole guardian unless absolutely necessary, the court should not issue orders repeatedly for mediation, custody or visitation in the families involved moreover, orders granting visiting rights to an offending father should be issued only after consultations with mental health experts clearly find such visitation to be in the child's best interests finally, acquittal in a criminal trial should not automatically absolve the father of liability either the family court or the special court should initiate an independent inquiry using the standard of preponderance of probabilities to be certain of innocencehence, this billnew delhi;poonam mahajanjuly 25, 2017———— a billfurther to amend the protection of children from sexual offences act, 2012————(shrimati poonam mahajan, mp)gmgipmrnd—2091ls(s3)—13-10-2017