Criminal record declaration in the application has been made mandatory for those applying for an Indian visa.
The move will likely help identify and stop people with a history of child sexual abuse from travelling to India.
India’s Union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi has recently announced that criminal record declaration in the application has been made mandatory for those applying for an Indian visa.
Key REASON behind the move.
This particular move will likely help identify and stop people with a history of Child Sexual Abuse from travelling to India.
Menaka Gandhi wrote on Twitter, “it has now been decided that an appropriate questionnaire & a declaration will be incorporated in the visa application form which will have to be filled up by visa applicants/ foreign nationals.”
She also thanked India’s Home Minister Rajnath Singh for accepting the request.
Gandhi further added that the request was accepted based on “complaints of serial child Sexual Abuse offenders managing to visit India. This step will certainly be a strong deterrent for perpetrators of such heinous crimes.”
Child sexual abuse laws in India have been enacted as part of the nation’s child protection policies.
The Parliament of India passed the ‘Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences Bill, 2011’ regarding child sexual abuse on 22 May 2012 into an Act.
