Abstract: The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, was promulgated to protect children against sexual exploitation and abuse, with stringent legal provisions and child-friendly judicial mechanisms. The Act is progressive in its intention, but the number of cases registered under the Act is increasing in consensual romantic relationships of adolescents. These cases have raised serious concerns about the criminalization of adolescent emotional development, gendered legal interpretations, psychological trauma, and long-term relational consequences among juveniles. The present study is an attempt to explore the psychological, emotional, and socio-legal impact of the POCSO Act on adolescents involved in consensual relationships in Haryana. The study takes a mixed-method research design, including a case study of 50 POCSO cases registered during 2024–2025, and semi-structured interviews with juveniles, families, mental health professionals, and legal authorities. The findings indicate that a substantial number of cases are due to parental objection, social stigma, caste-based restrictions, and family honor issues rather than coercive abuse. The research shows that adolescents face substantial emotional consequences, such as anxiety, depression, social isolation, disrupted attachment patterns, lack of trust in intimate relationships, and conflicts of identity. This back-and-forth did not prevent the disproportionate criminalization of male juveniles. The paper calls for contextual legal interpretation, holistic sex education, judicial sensitization, rehabilitative interventions, and policy reform to balance between the protection of the child and the psychological realities of adolescents.

Keywords: POCSO Act, adolescents, juvenile justice, relationship psychology, consensual relationships, mental health, socio-legal conflict, Haryana.