Govt. beats hasty retreat on controversial amendment to reduce age of consent to 14 for girls 

By Saman Indrajith

The government yesterday withdrew the controversial bill on sexual consent.

Justice Minister Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe told Parliament that the government was withdrawing the Penal Code (Amendment) Bill to reduce the age of consent for sex to 14 for girls.

He said that an amendment acceptable to all interested parties would be presented to Parliament in the future.

The Minister said the recommendation on the Bill had been presented to the Justice Ministry by senior President’s Counsel, other Attorneys and professionals following a five-year study

“Rape cases are usually filed on matters where the girls between 14 and 16 years have been sexually assaulted by boys of 16 to 22 years. When such cases are taken up before Magistrates’ Courts, the girl has reached maturity and some of them are married. However, the boy has to be sentenced to mandatory 10 years in jail according to the current law. This ruins the lives of both the girl and the boy,” he said.