§ Section 27 (in substance)

(1) The medical examination of a child in respect of whom any offence has been committed under this Act shall, notwithstanding that a First Information Report or complaint has not been registered, be conducted in accordance with Section 164A of the Code of Criminal Procedure, now Section 184 of the BNSS.

(2) In case the victim is a girl child, the medical examination shall be conducted by a woman doctor.

(3) The medical examination shall be conducted in the presence of the parent of the child or any other person in whom the child reposes trust or confidence.

(4) Where, in case the parent of the child or other person referred to in sub-section (3) cannot be present for any reason, the medical examination shall be conducted in the presence of a woman nominated by the head of the medical institution.

§ Why the FIR is not a precondition

• Evidence deteriorates quickly. Biological evidence may be lost within hours or days; waiting for police formalities may destroy it.

• Care cannot wait. Emergency contraception and HIV post-exposure prophylaxis are effective only within a short window.

• Families often go to a hospital first. A child may be brought to a doctor before anyone approaches the police, and the Act ensures the child is examined and treated on arrival.

• The POCSO Rules, 2020 reinforce it. Rule 6 requires emergency medical care without any requirement of an FIR, a certificate or any other legal formality, and without charge.

§ Sub-sections (2) to (4)

A girl child is examined by a woman doctor. The requirement is mandatory in terms. It protects the child's dignity and makes the examination less distressing.

A parent or a person the child trusts is present. The child's security matters for the examination as for the statement. Where the parent is the suspected abuser, the trusted person will be someone else.

Failing them, a woman nominated by the head of the institution. The child is never examined without a supportive adult present.

A child with a disability. The examination is adapted to the child's needs, with a special educator or a person familiar with the child's communication, consistently with Sections 26(3) and 38(2).

§ How consent works for a child

• The general rule. Section 164A of the old Code, now Section 184 of the BNSS, requires the examination to be conducted with the consent of the victim or of a person competent to give consent on her behalf.

• For a child, the parent or guardian ordinarily consents. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's Guidelines and Protocols for Medico-legal Care for Survivors of Sexual Violence also emphasise informing the child in terms the child can understand.

• The child's own wishes count. An older child's refusal to undergo a part of the examination is to be respected and recorded; a child is never examined by force.

• Section 41 provides that Sections 3 to 13 do not apply to a medical examination or treatment undertaken with the consent of the parents or guardian, which protects the doctor in a legitimate examination.

§ What medical evidence can and cannot establish

It corroborates; it does not decide. A reliable account from the child can found a conviction without medical corroboration, as the Supreme Court held in Ganesan v. State, (2020) 10 SCC 573.

The absence of injury is not fatal. Many acts leave no injury; a child may be coerced rather than overpowered; and delayed examination allows injuries to heal. In State of U.P. v. Chhoteylal, (2011) 2 SCC 550, the Court held that the absence of injuries does not by itself discredit the victim.

The two-finger test is prohibited. In Lillu v. State of Haryana, (2013) 14 SCC 643, the Supreme Court held that it violates the victim's privacy, physical and mental integrity and dignity. In State of Jharkhand v. Shailendra Kumar Rai (2022), it reiterated the prohibition and directed that any person conducting it be held guilty of misconduct.

Findings about past sexual experience are irrelevant. Section 48 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, corresponding to Section 53A of the old Evidence Act, makes the victim's character and previous sexual experience irrelevant.

§ Principles for forensic evidence

• Collection must be early. Samples are taken at the first examination and sealed, which is a further reason why the examination does not wait for an FIR.

• The chain of custody must be proved, from collection through sealing, transport and laboratory analysis, so that the result can be relied on.

• A DNA match is powerful corroboration, particularly where identity is disputed.

• A negative or inconclusive result is not decisive. It may reflect the nature of the act, delay, or loss of material, and does not by itself defeat a credible account.

• The BNSS requires forensic investigation for offences punishable with seven years or more, which covers the graver POCSO offences.

§ Where the offence results in pregnancy

Aggravation. Where penetrative sexual assault makes a girl child pregnant, the offence is aggravated under Section 5(j)(ii) and punishable under Section 6.

The MTP Act, 1971, as amended in 2021. Termination is permitted up to twenty weeks on the opinion of one registered medical practitioner, and up to twenty-four weeks for specified categories, which include survivors of sexual assault and minors, on the opinion of two practitioners. Beyond twenty-four weeks, the courts have permitted termination in appropriate cases.

Consent. For a minor, the written consent of the guardian is required under the MTP Act, and the minor's own wishes are central to the decision.

The reporting duty and privacy. In X v. Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department, Government of NCT of Delhi (2022), the Supreme Court held that a practitioner reporting a minor's pregnancy under Section 19 need not disclose the minor's identity where she and her guardian seek a lawful termination, so that the duty to report does not deter her from safe care.

Emergency contraception

Offered to a girl child of reproductive age as soon as possible, ideally within seventy-two hours of the offence

HIV post-exposure prophylaxis

Started as soon as possible and within seventy-two hours, where there has been a risk of exposure

Other sexually transmitted infections

Testing and presumptive treatment as clinically indicated

Follow-up

Repeat testing for HIV and other infections, and a pregnancy check, at intervals after the first examination

Confidentiality

The HIV and AIDS (Prevention and Control) Act, 2017 protects the confidentiality of HIV status, alongside POCSO s. 23

§ Care beyond the physical

• Trauma is often the gravest harm. Anxiety, depression, sleep disturbance and withdrawal are common, and may emerge long after the physical effects have healed.

• The Child Welfare Committee and the support person. Under Rule 4 of the POCSO Rules, 2020, the Committee may arrange counselling, and a support person accompanies the child through the process.

• Experts under Section 39. Psychologists and mental health professionals may be associated with the child at the pre-trial and trial stages under the State's guidelines.

• Compensation. Mental trauma is expressly a ground for compensation under Section 33(8), and Rule 9 lists mental harm among the factors the Special Court weighs.

• Minimum intrusion. Psychological evaluation for the purposes of litigation must itself be kept to what is necessary. In Sheetal Vasant Thakur v. Chirag Arora (2026), the Supreme Court held that repeated or layered evaluations risk re-traumatising the child.