Chandigarh, Oct. 20 -- The Haryana Women and Child Development Department has launched an awareness campaign highlighting stringent punishment for child sexual abuse under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, as amended in 2019, urging citizens to report such offences to the police or child protection authorities.

In an awareness advisory, the department said sexually exploiting children, attempting sexual harassment or abuse, and using children for obscene or pornographic material constitute offences under the law.

The advisory warned that offences committed by persons responsible for protecting or caring for children, including institutional caregivers, public servants, police personnel and educational inst...