In a recent verdict, Delhi High Court said that the charge of penetrative sexual assault under the new Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act can be meted out to females also. Engaging in intercourse without a girl’s consent constitutes rape under the POCSO Act, and this ruling expands the definition of accountability under this legislation, which is intended to shield children from sexually related offences. The case was a complain one in which the accused was a woman who was presented in court for the rape of a girl. Specifically, the POCSO Act which was passed in 2012 has been mainly used against male persons. This type of legislation enumeratively lists different types of crime against children as penetrative Bury sexual assault, aggravated Bury sexual assault and sexual harassment. As for the gender element, it is non-discriminative in the wording of the law but, in fact, it seems that female offenders constitute a very limited circle. On the same note, the prosecution accused the woman of compelling the minor girl to engage in sexual acts that fell under the description of penetrative sexual assault as provided for in the POCSO Act. The defense urged that the charge was meaningless in the case of women, which under the law’s common meaning only men are able to perpetrate such an offense. On the contrary, Delhi High Court delivered a different verdict in the case. The court, however, stated that it does not recognize distinction between the male and female offenders and that the law therefore to be applied depends on the type of offence committed and not the gender of the offender. While delivering the judgement the court gave a clear indication that the POCSO Act is a shield against child sexual abuse, and the provision of this protection should not be relative to the gender of the offender. The Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma, who chaired the case noted that the Act being a protective statute is sensitive to the protection of the children against any sort of sexual vices has a nondescript nomenclature throughout the act or law protecting children from sexual offenses while also being gender neutral. The court prepared a message that said that the charges for penetrative sexual assault do belong to the accused woman; the law it is to protect children from all manner of offenders regardless of the gender of the latter. These observations are relevant to the future interpretation of the POCSO Act, of course. This will serve to re-affirm the law’s stance on the protection of children especially bearing in mind that any offender will not be in any position to avoid child vulnerability charges based on gender alone. The decision also concerns the increase in the understanding of sexual offenders, as the women can also become sexual offenders.